


Love Comes Quietly

by AStrangeDaze (TerraRising)



Category: JBJ (Band), Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Baby Woojin, Family Fluff, Gen, M/M, Single Parent Daniel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-01-18 03:15:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 44,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12379758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraRising/pseuds/AStrangeDaze
Summary: Daniel never expected that at the age of twenty-five, he would be kicked out of his own home with a newborn baby and nothing beyond his own savings and the clothes on his back.He also doesn't expect his first and greatest love to find his way back to him while he's holding a squirming three year old.





	1. I

Sundays, as far as Daniel was concerned, were sacred.

 

They were lazy days, days to sleep in, to do a little less than you did in the rest of the week because you could get away with it. So when he had finally gotten off his shift on Saturday, there was nothing he was looking forward to more than a sleep in later that night.

 

Except it’s early, he doesn’t know _how_ early, but the sun’s light was just barely peeking through the blinds so it must be some tragic hour in the day, and he’s awake before he ever wanted to be. The reason why was a weight settled on his chest, just enough to be slowly crushing the air out of his lungs and jabbing into his organs, while a persistent hand taps him on the cheek.

 

“Dadda, dadda.”

 

Daniel groans and throws his arms around his son, rolling over so his baby boy was trapped in his arms and no longer close to rupturing his spleen with a badly placed knee. The three year old giggled and squirmed wildly in his arms, kicking his tiny feet into the air while trying to wriggle out of his father’s grip.

 

“Dadda, up! Time t'up!”

 

“Five more minutes baby,” Daniel mumbles, ducking his head to blow a raspberry against the chubby belly of the squirming child in his arms, causing Woojin to squeal loudly at the ticklish sensation, “Daddy’s tired. Let’s sleep five more minutes, okay?”

 

Woojin pouted up at him, small hand smacking at Daniel’s forearm in reprimand, cheeks puffed out adorably in his indignation. “No dadda, no. You hafta up _now_. You pom'sed, you pom'sed!”

 

He debated internally about whether it was worth dealing with a petulant Woojin for an entire hour in the morning before he was forgiven for five more minutes of partial shuteye before sitting up with a tired groan. Woojin cheers happily, bouncing up and down in his father’s lap.

 

“Did I promise?” Daniel asked, exaggerating the confusion in his voice and hiding a smile at Woojin’s frustration.

 

The little boy in question puffed out his cheeks adorably and crossed his arms. “Yes! Pom'sed dadda! Woojin birf'day, _haf'ta up_! _Up, up, up!_ ”

 

Hair sticking up wildly in the back from sleep, rosy cheeked and bright-eyed in his little pajamas with the cat paw prints over them that Jisung hyung had bought him on Christmas, Woojin was a sight that made Daniel’s heart melt. He coos at his son freely, squishing his chubby little cheeks between his hands even as he peppered his face with kisses as the little boy giggled and complained about being ticklish.

 

“Why, it is!” Daniel declares, pretending to be surprised, “It _is_ your birthday! How old are you now, baby?”

 

“Woojin  _twee_!” Woojin giggles, holding up the correct amount of fingers, “Woojin twee, big now! Not baby, dadda!”

 

He gasped dramatically, “Wow, three! You’re so big now Woojinie!”

 

Daniel swoops in and lifts his son, making airplane noises as he zoomed him around the air much to his son’s delight, “But you’ll _always_ be my baby!”

 

Listening to the sound of Woojin’s laughter fill the air had a large grin stretching across Daniel’s face. For the past three years though, things had been much the same; if Woojin was happy, then so was Daniel.

 

If you had asked Daniel where he saw himself at twenty eight, he would not have told you “as a single father whose entire world was his precious baby son”.

 

If you had asked Daniel where he saw himself at twenty five, he most definitely would not have told you “disowned for not wanting to give up a child he wasn’t even aware he had sired until twenty-four hours previously”.

 

But it had happened, life had swept in like some clichéd and overly used plot to a B-list rom-com. Daniel, heir to Kang Corporations, had woken up on an unremarkable, rainy April morning to the frantic knocking of his maid. Still half-asleep and more than just a little hung-over from last night’s party, he had stumbled to the front doors to be met with the sight of a distraught young woman he vaguely recognized holding a crying baby in her arms.

 

It had taken him a while to recall where he knew her face from, Yoon Minah was a one-night stand he met at a club from a year or so back, whom he had then briefly dated for a month or so because he had nothing better to do. (But none of his relationships have lasted since _him_. None of them had mattered in the way _he_ did.)

 

She had told him in tears, handing him the squalling babe with shaking arms, that this was his son. That she had been pregnant when they broke up and hadn’t known, hadn’t found out until it was too late to abort so she had carried the baby to term. But she was still in school, had already had to take a term off to secretly have the child because she couldn’t go to classes in that condition. She couldn’t risk her parents finding out and had no means to raise the child; if he didn’t take the baby, she would leave him at an orphanage and give him up for adoption.

 

Daniel had subconsciously tightened his hold on the baby in his arm; whether he was ready to raise a child or not, the mention of an orphanage brought images of run-down dilapidated buildings with limited food and neglected children. It wasn’t something he would wish on any child, much less this soft bundle of warmth in his arms. He had looked down to meet curious doe eyes and fallen in love. _His son_. In that moment, he had resolved to raise the child, had felt such awe swell within him at the thought that this fragile little life was a part of him that he could think of no other option.

 

His parents though were less than pleased.

 

After running the girl off with a big fat cheque to ‘keep her mouth shut’, they had insisted on having a paternity test done. Daniel had gone along with that part quietly, more focused on listening to the soft instructions of his housekeeper on how to hold the child, how he had to always support his head because the baby’s neck wasn’t strong enough to do so yet. Money speaks as always and the results came back by the next day – it’s confirmed, the baby was his and Daniel’s parents were mortified.

 

Daniel could hear them whispering even as he carefully fed the baby a bottle of formula one of the maids had produced out of nowhere. When they settled down on the settee in front of him, faces pinched and eyes cold, Daniel had tightened his hold on his child, gearing up for a fight.

 

It was a song and dance that Daniel was intimately familiar with, no matter how much it sickened him. His parents were horrified that their lineage and reputation could be marred by this “whelp” that was the get of some “no name whore”; in less than two minutes, they were demanding that Daniel give up the baby. This wasn’t the time and place for a child, they told him, he could get married in a few years to the daughter of one of their business partners, Lee Hajin, and have as many children with her as he wanted. He had liked her when he met her last year, right? She was much more appropriate than that ‘upstart deviant’ Daniel had been seeing before, and Daniel needed to get rid of this bastard child if he was to marry her.

 

Daniel who had fallen in love with his son the moment he laid eyes on him was already determined to fight them tooth and nail to keep the baby. The moment they had dared bring up _him_ , had the gall to mention _him_ offhandedly like someone irrelevant, like someone who wasn’t the love of Daniel’s life whom had been ripped away from him by his own parents? Daniel tightened his grip on the child; he had already lost one person to them, he wasn’t going to lose his own son.

 

The only reason that confrontation didn’t devolve into a screaming match was because Daniel refused to disturb the child he was holding. Yet at the end of the day, Daniel had marched upstairs, packed his bags, and showed himself the door. He was determined to take responsibility for his child and they refused to have the baby in the house, so the only option was for him to leave. They had cut off all his credit cards and access to any funds the next day, betting that Daniel would come crawling back to them within weeks, sans child.

 

Instead Daniel, mindful of the fact that his savings had to be enough for _two_ now, rents a small apartment. It’s a bit rundown, the entire space is smaller than the size of Daniel’s room back at the mansion, but everything is in working order and when the landlady connects the dots and realizes Daniel is doing his best to take responsibility for his child, her gaze softens and she passes along an old crib and some baby’s clothing her grandson had grown out of a few years ago.

 

In the dead of the night, Daniel sits in his new apartment, wondering what on earth he was even thinking, how on earth was he going to raise a _child_ alone?

 

The first person Daniel calls is Jisung hyung, one of his closest friends from back in university, and he’s crying when he does it because Woojin (he had named the child Woojin, it was a nice name for a son, one that had come up often before when he used to dream of a future with _him_ ) is running a fever that won’t come down and he had no idea what to do. He’s been a father for all of one week and he’s already a failure.

 

Jisung, dependable Jisung, had him call a cab and take Woojin to the emergency and meets Daniel at the hospital. When the doctors took his baby away, Jisung had been the one who had to coax the story out of a sobbing Daniel and fill out the paperwork for him. After a few tense hours, they found out Woojin had an ear infection which was what had caused the fever, he needed to be monitored for the next few days but they had gotten his temperature down in time and it didn’t look like it would do him any lasting damage. Daniel thanked the doctors profusely and then rushed to his son’s side, Jisung beside him, holding back all the things he wanted to say because that’s not what Daniel needed right now.

 

They get home in the wee hours of the morning and that’s when Daniel takes a few days off work to situate himself, but eventually ends up having to quit altogether because the long hours he had been working before don’t work for a single father whose priority is a newborn. Add to the fact that the company was his grandfather’s who was using everything he could to pressure Daniel into coming home and it was a foregone conclusion. So he ends up working two part-time jobs instead – the pay is pretty shitty but the hours are flexible enough that he can be there for Woojin when he needs to.

 

Jisung rallies the old gang together to support Daniel when the younger man is too embarrassed to do so himself, and Daniel had never been more thankful that his friends were all such amazing people. They barge in one day and baby-proof the apartment, Jisung shouting instructions as Taewoong and Jinwoo run around the place. Jaehan shows up a bit later armed with paint and cute decorations to turn the room Daniel had left empty up until now into a proper nursery. Not a day later, Sungwoon is knocking on his door with Jaehwan and Taehyun in tow, holding diapers and formula, demanding to see the baby.

 

After that, it never seems to stop; Daniel’s apartment seems to be constantly graced by a revolving door of people. Even the friends he had fallen out of contact with after that break up were there to help; Minhyun shows up to babysit Woojin for a few hours when Daniel’s called in for a last minute shift and sends out an SOS over the group chat, and Jonghyun appears out of the blue one day with groceries and baby supplies on hand as if sensing Daniel’s budget for that month was running low. Everyone loved Woojin, cooing over the baby incessantly, and Daniel’s heart swelled at the sight because he didn’t doubt for a moment that Woojin would grow up loved.

 

It hadn’t all been easy, far from it. There were days where Daniel breaks down in the privacy of his own room because he’s tired from working shitty jobs at odd hours and Woojin won’t stop crying, days where he’s not sure what on earth he’s doing or how he’s going to get through this. Days where he's close to pulling his hair out because parenting books and youtube videos can only teach you so much and he's doing this all alone with no preparation at all; who on _earth_ thought it'd be okay to give him a child? Those days he forces himself to get through the day, to look at Woojin and remember _why_ he’s doing it. That the tight budgets, the rundown apartment, the lack of time for himself was worth it because this was all for his son.

 

But they got through it, and seeing Woojin grow, take his first steps, say his first words, all of it makes every sacrifice Daniel has to make along the way worth it. For three years, they’d made their own family, one filled with loud and crazy doting uncles that weren’t related to Woojin by blood but whom loved him regardless.

 

“Dadda!” Woojin’s whine brings Daniel out of his thoughts and he smiles down at his son.

 

“Alright,” he stands up to stretch, thankful he had been able to arrange for a rare day off, “Let’s get ready Woojin-ah, Uncle Jisung is waiting for us!”

 

Woojin cheers and runs out of the room towards the small bathroom they shared, yelling for his dad to hurry up. Daniel follows with a fond smile; his son was officially three years old today, he was growing up so fast, maybe too fast even. They go through their routine easily, and for once Woojin doesn’t fight Daniel about putting pants on, too eager to head to his birthday surprise. The three year old wolfs down his breakfast, getting jam smeared all over his cheeks, which Daniel cleans off with a laugh.

 

Jisung texts them soon enough and Daniel hustles them downstairs after he makes sure Woojin’s got his jacket on; it was chilly in April and Woojin was prone to getting colds. Jisung waves at them cheerfully, jogging over from where he had been waiting leaned against the hood of his car to sweep Woojin up into a hug. He spins the toddler around to his delight, “Happy birthday Woojinie! How’s my favourite nephew doing?”

 

Woojin grins and smacks a big kiss to his uncle Jisung’s cheek, “Mor'wing samchon! Where we go?”

 

Daniel watched as Jisung just about melts into a puddle of goo right then and there, just like every other time Woojin addresses his hyung as samchon. In fact, the older man had started crying the first time Woojin called him that, a fact that Daniel would never let him live down, ignoring how many times Daniel had cried because of Woojin.

 

“It’s a surprise!” Jisung declares, widening his eyes for comic effect, “You have to be good and wait, that’s what makes birthdays fun!”

 

Woojin had squirmed as he was strapped into the car seat but obediently refrained from asking again. When they pulled up at the entrance of the zoo, Woojin had cheered so loudly both Daniel and Jisung startled. They were dragged around by an overexcited three year old all day, one who wanted to see _all_ the animals and wouldn’t take no for an answer. They don’t manage to, but Daniel buys Woojin a pair of wolf ears to wear as a headband to make up for it (wolves, Woojin had declared, where his new favourite animals) and the little boy goes around pretending to howl for the rest of the afternoon.

 

They leave for dinner at a restaurant with prices Daniel would normally stay away from but Woojin’s various ‘uncles’ are insisting on the treat. The drive back is long and Woojin conks out almost immediately, sleeping in the backseat with his headband lopsided and Daniel can’t resist snapping pictures of his son and saving it as his new background.

 

Woojin is a little grumpy when they wake him but cheers up quickly at the sight of the party being held just for him, all his doting uncles waiting armed with gifts. Daniel laughs a little at the sight of his son being passed around the room, though the ‘chain’ is broken when Woojin gets to Jaehwan, the man flat out refusing to let go of the three year old, citing the fact that he’d been overseas for work up until recently and hadn’t had enough quality time with his favourite little boy. Taewoong chases a cackling Jaehwan around the room, screaming at him to stop hogging Woojin while the reason for their squabble laughs, high and clear, urging Jaehwan to run faster between giggles.

 

Their little fight ends when Taehyun darts in with his quick reflexes and steals Daniel’s son out of Jaehwan’s grasp. He teams up with Hyunbin who laughs while using his long limbs to fend off Jaehwan and Taewoong, leaving Taehyun free to make a victory lap around the room with the Woojin held over his head triumphantly. The three year old is delighted and the rest of the party continues on in a similar note, with Woojin being coddled and fed by his various uncles until another one steals him away.

 

It’s an hour or so into the party when Woojin makes his way back to his father, tugging on Daniel’s pants. “Dadda,” he whispers, “Haf'ta pee, dadda.”

 

“Okay,” Daniel scoops Woojin up into his arms easily, “Let’s go find the washroom then.”

 

They end up asking a passing server for directions and she stops to gush over how adorable Woojin was, hearts in her eyes when Woojin told her proudly that he was three today. Daniel gets into a small argument with his son who wants to use the toilet along because he was a big boy now, while Daniel would rather Woojin not fall into the toilet by accident. They compromise and Daniel refrains from helping do more than button up Woojin’s jeans again when he fumbles with it though he hovers behind him the whole time. He’s holding Woojin up while the three year old very determinedly washes his hands while counting for a full sixty seconds like his preschool teacher had taught him when someone else walks into the washroom.

 

Someone who was tall, dressed in a fitted smart-casual blazer with the sleeves rolled up and fashionable jeans, and had a heart-achingly familiar face. Their eyes meet in the mirror and Daniel almost drops Woojin in his shock. He’s still slack-jawed when then other recovers, gracing Daniel with a devastatingly beautiful smile while Woojin squirms in his arms, trying to get a better view of this stranger who was making his dad act so weird.

 

“Hello Daniel.”

 

The name he hadn't allowed himself to say for the past five years tumbles out so easily from his lips and tastes so sweet that Daniel wonders why he had always thought uttering it would be a death sentence.

 

“Seongwoo hyung…”


	2. II

Woojin wiggles enough that Daniel is forced to put him down on the floor, watching helplessly as his son patters up to Seongwoo fearlessly on his tiny legs. Daniel wants to call him back, wants to remind Woojin that he’s not supposed to walk up to strangers, but for all his efforts, Woojin has never had a solid concept of ‘stranger danger’. It’s partially Daniel’s fault, and partially that of his numerous uncles; Woojin has been watched over meticulously all his life, he has never known anything by kindness and regard from the adults around him. Why would he believe that he had anything to fear from a man his father clearly knows?

 

The toddler stops right at Seongwoo’s feet, craning his head backwards to stare up at Seongwoo, openly curious, and Daniel watches as Seongwoo stares back, equally as fascinated with the little boy as Woojin is with him. Daniel winces when Woojin places wet palms against Seongwoo’s knees to steady himself, leaving wet handprints on what has to be designer jeans, but Seongwoo doesn’t seem to mind at all.

 

Instead the older man takes half as step back and then crouches down so that he’s face-to-face with the three year-old. “Hi!” Woojin chirps brightly, apparently having decided somewhere during their staring contest that he likes this man, “I Woojin! Woojin twee t'day! Who you?”

 

“Oh wow,” Seongwoo exclaims, looking entirely too at home crouched on the floor of a public restroom and talking to Daniel’s son, “My name is Seongwoo and I think three’s a _very_ important number. So it’s your birthday today then? Happy birthday!”

 

“Yes!” Woojin nods decisively, “Woojin haf party. Come?”

 

“Woojin-ah,” Daniel breaks free of his trance to hurry over and pick his son up, “I’m sure Seongwoo-ssi has plenty to do. Let’s go back, it’s almost time for cake.”

 

Woojin shakes his head, stubbornly turning back to Seongwoo and for a second Daniel thinks he catches the hint of something odd flashing across Seongwoo’s eyes, but it disappears too quickly for him to be certain. A part of him is bitter that he’s fallen so out of practice when before he could read what Seongwoo was feeling even when the other man had his best poker face on, but really, what did he expect?

 

“Wike cake?” the little boy asks Seongwoo seriously.

 

“I do,” Seongwoo answers solemn, as if a discussion about cake was the important thing in his life right now and Daniel’s heart clenches, recalling how much Seongwoo loved children, recalling his whispered dreams of raising a family with Daniel one day across the scant inches between their lips on sleepless nights, “Chocolate is my favourite. What’s your’s?”

 

“Woojin wike choc'wit best too!” Woojin announces excitedly, lurching forwards in Daniel’s arms in his exhilaration, “Come haf cake wif Woojin!”

 

“Dadda,” he turns back to Daniel with bright eyes, “Se'woo come haf cake?”

 

Daniel wants to be proud of how generous his son is even to strangers but his face is stuck in a poor semblance of a smile. “Don’t call Seongwoo-ssi by his name, it’s impolite,” he scolds without heat, the words stiff in his mouth, “And I’m sure Seongwoo-ssi is busy, let’s not bother him anymore.”

 

“But s'ma birf'day!” Woojin protests before turning back to Seongwoo with pleading eyes.

 

“Se'woo ahjussi no busy? S'ma birf'day, twee is im-pwor-tant,” the toddler attempts to parrot Seongwoo’s earlier words, sounding out the new word carefully and then adds, “Cake choc'wate.”

 

Seongwoo smiles and nods, glancing up at Daniel, “Only if you father doesn’t mind.”

 

Woojin turns beseeching puppy eyes towards Daniel and he groans, knowing he’s not going to win against his son. “Just for a little while,” he concedes, “Seongwoo-ssi has friends he has to go back to. It wouldn’t be polite for him to leave his friends for too long, baby.”

 

“They come too!” his son declares with a bright smile, certain that this solves everything.

 

Then to Daniel’s eternal surprise, the little boy reaches out towards Seongwoo with both arms, a silent plead to be held. Seongwoo glances at Daniel for permission before pulling the little boy into his arms, adjusting that little body in his arms with an ease that has Daniel rushing to banish all the yearning thoughts that burst into his mind.

 

He marvels at how at ease Woojin is with Seongwoo, the little boy chattering excitedly as he directs Seongwoo where to go; it’s the fastest Daniel has seen Woojin ever take to someone. _There must be something about Seongwoo that just attracts us Kangs_ , he muses at the irony of the situation, remember just how quickly Seongwoo had caught his attention so many years ago.

 

* * *

 

Everyone in the room freezes for a moment at the sight of Woojin held in the arms of a man they never expected to see near the father and son duo when they walk in. Their faces are shocked, looking just as thrown as Daniel still feels even as Woojin’s voice fills the silence without pause.

 

Predictably, Minhyun is the one to recover first as he steps forward to greet Seongwoo as it is was normal for him to be carrying Woojin. The toddler doesn’t seem to sense anything wrong, chattering happily at Minhyun as well, telling him all about his ‘new friend’.

 

Slowly the rest of their friends (and these were _their_ friends, but Daniel can’t recall the last time he’s seen them all together in the same room) drift over to greet Seongwoo. Jisung does so while keeping a cautious eye on Daniel and he would protest that he’s not _that_ sensitive if he doesn’t feel two seconds from breaking right now.

 

Jisung pulls him to the side discreetly while everyone else is distracted by Seongwoo’s presence. “Are you okay?” he murmurs quietly and Daniel stamps down the urge to start hyperventilating.

 

“Not really?” he admits because Jisung knows him too well for him to lie successfully anyways, “Why is he here? Of all places, why did he have to show up here?!”

 

“Hey, hey,” Jisung hurries to reassure him, “It’s okay. Do you want me to ask him to leave?”

 

“Yes, wait, no,” Daniel groans and then shoves his hands into his hair tugging on the brown strands until they were a mess, “I don’t know. How am I supposed to even feel about this? When I see him holding Woojin, it’s just, confusing? Hyung, is this real?”

 

“Did you talk to him at all?”

 

“No,” Daniel shakes his head, “Not really, he hasn’t really looked at me either. He’s talked mostly to Woojinie.”

 

“Okay, stay here, I’ll be back, okay? Go sit down, drink some water, it’s going to be fine.”

 

He makes to leave Daniel with a firm pat on the back, stopping when Daniel grabs his arm urgently. When Jisung turns back to him Daniel offers a weak smile. “Don’t, don’t ask him to leave,” he whispers, “I’m fine, I just need a moment. Please.”

 

“Okay,” Jisung agrees gently, “If that’s what you want. But if you change you mind, I’ll talk to him for you. Seongwoo…Seongwoo will understand.”

 

“I know,” Daniel laughs bitterly, the resigned look of understanding that had painted itself across Seongwoo’s face when Daniel broke up with him five years ago was still sharp in his mind’s eye, never faded or dulled over time, “He’s good like that, isn’t he?”

 

* * *

 

Seongwoo leaves shortly after cake, wishing Woojin a happy birthday and apologizing for not having a present for him. The little boy hasn’t let go of Seongwoo since he first climbed into his arms, refusing to let any of his uncles to remove him from Seongwoo’s lap. Woojin smiles, waving goodbye, and tries to make Seongwoo promise to come play with him, pouting when Seongwoo doesn’t answer, only glancing at Daniel with that same unreadable expression.

 

He bends to ruffle Woojin’s head fondly before heading back to the main dining room while Woojin whines, running over and tugging on Daniel’s pants, begging him to ask Seongwoo to come visit and play with him next week.

 

Daniel just does his best to redirect Woojin instead, distracting him by announcing that it’s time to open presents. To Daniel’s chagrin, Woojin does not drop the issue after he opens his presents, he goes around the room telling everyone about all the things Seongwoo told him. Even as they pack everything up and everyone starts leaving one by one, all Woojin seems to be talking about is “Unc'a Seongwoo this” and “Unc'a Seongwoo that”. Daniel can’t tell if he’s just overly sensitive to the issue, but he can’t hold back the sigh of relief when Woojin falls asleep while Daniel’s buckling him into the car seat.

 

The drive back is peaceful almost, though Daniel’s just forcing himself not to think about Seongwoo, to postpone the inevitable turmoil that’s bubbling up for until he’s home and alone, where it’s safe to fall apart at the seams.

 

He’s chatting lowly with Jisung when Woojing pipes up suddenly from where they thought he had been asleep in his car seat. “Dadda,” the little boy’s words are half-slurred from sleep, “Woojinie wan' dif'wen birf'day wish. T'ane?”

 

Daniel turns to look at the sleepy little boy and smiles, “You want to change you wish? Of course baby, what did you want to wish for?”

 

“No tell! Tell no come twue,” Woojin insists stubbornly.

 

“Who told you that?” Daniel asks, eyebrows rising.

 

“Seonho hyung say!”

 

Daniel laughs, exchanging a glance with Jisung as he recalls the boy from Woojin’s daycare who was a year older and constantly eating something, “It's 'said' baby. And is that so? Well, that rule doesn’t include daddies or uncles, or else who would help make the wish come true?”

 

“Oh,” Woojin is silent as he mulls it over, “Okay. Dadda, Woojinie wan' Unc'a Se'woo come pway. Ask pwease?”

 

Daniel is shocked into silence at the request and Jisung shoots him worried looks before he takes over the question, knowing his friend was in no condition to answer. “Woojinie-ah, don’t you want to use your birthday wish on something else? What about a trip to Lotte World, didn’t you want to go?”

 

“No,” the toddler shook his head mulishly, head nodding forward and then jerking upwards as he fought off his impending slumber, “Woojinie wan Unc'a Se'woo.”

 

“Woojin-ah,” Daniel croaks, “Can you tell daddy why you can Uncle Seongwoo to come see you again so badly?”

 

“Woojinie wike,” Woojin declares, as if things were that simple and Daniel thinks, a little hysterically, to a three year-old it probably was just that simple.

 

“Did he ask you to say that, Woojinie?”

 

“No,” Woojin squints at him as if Daniel was the one being silly, “But Uncle Se'woo need hug. And Woojinie hug bestest, dadda say.”

 

“Why does he need hugs, baby?”

 

“Cuz. Unc'a sad. Sad bad, hug make happy,” Woojin answers simply even as he yawned immediately afterwards.

 

“Sad?” Daniel whispers, head pounding with enough ferocity to slam against the base of his throat.

 

“Mmhmm.”

 

“Oh,” he answers faintly, looking towards Jisung helplessly.

 

“Unc'a Se'woo come, pwease dadda? Woojin no wike sad.”

 

“We’ll see, baby, we’ll see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a short(er) chapter! But I'm trying to churn out as many updates as I can before my semi-hiatus >_<
> 
>  
> 
> I have like one (one and half since it's like 3AM now?) days left before I'm officially cutting myself off from my WIPs, after which I will be on semi-hiatus until late/end of November.
> 
> Hope you guys liked it and I hope to see you all in December <3


	3. III

“I’m really sorry about this,” Principal Kim told Daniel, apologies weighing heavily on her joints, worry clear in each of the wrinkles that time has worked into her face.

 

The headmistress of the small daycare that Woojin went to knew that most of the parents who used their services were working parents from lower class households. Many of them could barely afford childcare services, but those who didn’t have family or friends who could babysit regularly had no choice but to find accomodations so that they could work and put food on the table. Their daycare was run by a non-profit organization, and with government subsidies, they were able to provide afforable if basic services for these low-income families.

 

For the daycare to shut down for several days without notice meant that many parents were scrambling to find someone to watch their kids for the days that the building was to be closed for decontamination. It was just simply bad luck; one of the volunteers at the daycare who had just returned from an overseas had come back with a virus she thought was only a bad cold. After three kids fell ill with violent stomach pains, the daycare had no choice but to call all the parents to pick up their kids and shut down the facility to disinfect everything, hoping the virus wouldn’t spread any further.

 

“It’s okay,” Daniel tried his best to manage a smile; he knew how hard Principal. Kim worked, how much she took on personally so that they wouldn’t have to increase the monthly fees, “I’m just glad Woojinie isn’t sick. We’ll see you next week then! Woojin-ah, say goodbye to your friend and then come say goodbye to Principal Kim! We have to go home now.”

 

“Kay!” the three year old calls back, waving enthusiastically to his friend before trotting over, throwing himself at Daniel’s legs and grinning up at Principal Kim, “Bye bye Pince-pal Kim!”

 

“Good bye Woojin,” the woman finds a smile for the bright three-year old, crouching to be at eye-level with him and ruffling his hair fondly, “You be good at home for your dad, okay?”

 

“Woojin good! Best good!” he brags with a grin and the adults can’t help but laugh.

 

“I’m sure you are,” she agreed, amused.

 

Daniel offered his own goodbyes and then bent to pick Woojin up, swinging his little bundle of joy into his arms with ease. “Oof,” he pretended to grunt, “You’re getting big there, buddy. Soon you’re going to be too heavy for me to carry.”

 

Woojin giggled wildly, hiding his face in his dad’s neck, trying to blow a raspberry into his skin but only suceeding in leaving behind a wet spot that had Daniel grimacing. “Noooo,” he whined, "Dadda cawee Woojin  _for'fer_!”

 

“Forever?”

 

“Uhuh!” Woojin nodded empathetically.

 

“Well, you know that means?”

 

“No?”

 

“That means you have to stay my baby forever!” Daniel teases as he picked up his speed, running towards the bus stop at the sight of their usual bus pulling into the stop.

 

Woojin hangs on tight, squealing in delight as his dad whizzed past other pedestrians with ease, “Fwaster, dadda, fwaster!”

 

Daniel laughs with his son as he puts on a final burst of speed to reach the doors in time, tapping his bus pass and nodding to the bemused driver while slightly breathless. Woojin cheers and pesters his dad into finding a window seat, chattering happily about his day until he falls asleep against Daniel’s arm ten minutes later, the gentle swaying of the bus lulling him to sleep easily. Daniel looks on fondly, smoothing Woojin’s hair back before he pulls out his phone and pulls up his group chat, aptly named ‘Village of Uncles”.

 

 

 

**Dad Daniel**

_Hey….so. Can anyone help watch Woojin for the next 3 days or so?_

_Daycare shut down for decontamination, bad virus going around_

_**5:42 PM** ✓✓_

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Oh thank god you’re here, I’m so sorry this is-”

 

“Hello Daniel.”

 

Daniel stops short, finally looking up from where he had been busy jamming on his shoes while trying ot wrestle himself into an ill-fitting suit jacket to stare at the man standing sheepishly outside his front door.

 

“You’re not Minhyun hyung,” he says rather uselessly.

 

Seongwoo laughs, looking down and not meeting Daniel’s startled gaze. “Ah, yes, I’m not. I know this is sudden, I hope you don’t mind? Minhyun got called in for an emergency meeting while we were having breakfast and freaked out about not being able to watch Woojin. And I was going to work from home today so,” he gives a little shrug, slim shoulder in that finely tailored jacket coming up and down, and suddenly Daniel is hyperaware of how dingy the apartment complex he lives in looks in contrast to the polished high-end Italian leather of Seongwoo’s loafers.

 

Taking Daniel’s silence negatively, Seongwoo fidgeted and then gave a small self-depreciating sigh. “I’m sorry for intruding and barging in here without notice. I know I must be making you…..uncomfortable. If you aren’t comfortable with me watching Woojin for you, I can just stay until you find someone else to come?” he offered, wry smile on his lips sending a pang through Daniel.

 

He’s seen that smile before and he hates it, hates himself, because it’s always him that’s putting that strained look on Seongwoo’s face. Whether it was five years ago or now, it seemed like it would always be Kang Daniel hurting Ong Seongwoo even when he didn’t mean to. Afterall, wasn’t that what he was best at?

 

“No, it’s not that, um,” he struggles to come up with an answer, tongue tangled and mind an complete mess.

 

What did you say to the man whose heart you broke five years ago because your parents thought he wasn’t worthy, was not normal, was turning their precious son gay?

 

Although, Daniel thinks rather bitterly, taking in the stark contrast between Seongwoo’s designer outfit and the chipped paint on his walls, Seongwoo seems to have done very well for himself in the past few years. At one point Daniel would have wanted to shove Seongwoo’s success, his triumph, in his parents’ faces, to show them how amazing the man Daniel had fallen in love with was. But now it was just another thing to show how much he didn’t fit in to Daniel’s life anymore.

 

He takes a step backwards, opening up the doorway although he still hesitates on inviting Seongwoo inside, the words caught in his windpipe, lost somewhere between the expansion of his diaphram and the creaking of his ribs.

 

Seongwoo’s face twists and he looks ready to take his leave when Woojin stumbles into the front foyer, wondering who his father was talking to, and takes the decision out of their hands.

 

“Dadda?” he asks, pattering over, hands and face sticky with the jelly from his sandwich, “Who- Unc'a Se'woo! Dadda! Wish good!”

 

The toddler screams out his greeting in excitement, ecstatic at the sight of Seongwoo and throws himself forwards recklessly. Daniel chokes out half a swearword he barely remembers not to finish, rushing to catch his son around the waist before he can put his sticky fingers all over Seongwoo’s clothing. “Woojin-ah!” he cries in exasperation, mandhandling the squirmy three year-old, “What have I said about you washing your hands?”

 

Woojin pouts and whines, reaching for Seongwoo with his bottom lip stuck out, “Noooo, dadda, wan Unc'a Se'woo!”

 

“Uncle Seongwoo came to spend the whole day with you, but he’s only staying if you’re a good boy,” Daniel tries to reason, “Go wash your hands and then you can come say hi to Uncle Seongwoo properly, okay?”

 

The corners of Woojin’s lips pull downwards, cheeks ruddy as he gears himself up to scream, it’s an expression that lets Daniel know he’s on the verge of a tantrum; it’s Daniel’s fault. Woojin is a good kid, great kid really, but he’s too used to being spoiled by his father and all his uncles. Daniel had been so scared in the beginning of not being enough for Woojin as a single father that he ended up giving Woojin everything he could within his power, and now putting his foot down and disciplining Woojin when he did act out was becoming a problem.

 

“Woojin,” he says again in warning.

 

His son scrunches up his face, bottom lip wobbling with the beginning of a torrent of tears when suddenly Seongwoo cuts in.

 

“Woojin-ah,” the other man steps into the doorway, letting himself in with an apologetic look to Daniel, “Uncle Seongwoo has to wash his hands too, but he doesn’t know where the washroom is. Do you think you could show me?”

 

Woojin considers this slowly for a moment and Seongwoo leans forward with a conspiratorial grin, “You’re a big boy now, right? Can you help and show me where I can wash my hands so we can play?”

 

“Kay,” Woojin agrees, nodding decisively as he signals for Daniel to put him back on the ground, “Unc'a Se'woo come!”

 

“Thank you, Woojin-ah,” Seongwoo pulls his shoes off quickly.

 

“Please excuse the intrusion,” he murmers under his breath as he makes to follow Woojin and Daniel wants to point out Seongwoo is unfairly intruding on his life, not just his home, but he holds his tongue.

 

The other man was technically doing him a favour - a favour he never asked for, sure, but a favour all the same. He takes a glance at his watch and curses, “Woojin-ah! Daddy has to leave for work now, be good for Uncle Seongwoo, okay?”

 

“Kay!” Woojin calls back happily, already chattering a mile a minute at Seongwoo who took the child’s jelly-coated hand without even a grimace and let the three year-old drag him towards the bathroom.

 

“Seongwoo hyung,” Daniel swallows heavily when he meets the other’s eyes, “….thanks. Um, I wouldn’t want to trouble you with this if there was any other way, but I really need to get to work.”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Seongwoo allows softly, “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to. Besides, Woojin is such a sweetheart, it’s not any trouble at all. We’re going to have fun together, right Woojinie?”

 

“Yeah!” the toddler bounces on the spot, “Unc'a Se'woo, come wash your quick, wan' pway!”

 

Daniel hesitates at the door and Seongwoo waves him on, “Go, we’ll be fine until you get back. I don’t have your number but I’ll get one of the others to call if anything happens.”

 

“I’ll text you,” he blurts out.

 

“Pardon?”

 

Daniel shifts uncomfortably, “I, um, I still have your number, if you didn’t change it that is, uh, did you change it?”

 

“No….no, it’s still the same.”

 

Even Woojin falls silent for a moment, looking up to peer curiously at the odd expression on Seongwoo’s face, wondering what had his dad and new uncle so sad.

 

Daniel nods, “Okay, so I’ll text you so you have my number. For emergencies.”

 

He doesn’t allow himself to think of all those sleepless nights where his finger hovered over the call button, doesn’t allow himself to think about why he hadn’t deleted Seongwoo’s number even after all this time, of how he had painstakingly made sure it was saved even when he swtiched phones two times.

 

“Alright,” Seongwoo nods, looking away first and coughing awkwardly, “Now you’d better head out or you’re going to be late to work.”

 

“Right. Work. Um, I’ll see you tonight then?”

 

“Yes,” Seongwoo’s answer is soft in a way that makes Daniel’s heart ache, though the other man only looks at Woojin who beams up at his new favourite person, “Tonight.”


	4. IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while everyone, I hope the wait wasn't too long; it's been a bit of a struggle for me to get back into the swing of things.
> 
> Here's chapter four, and just a quick note that Woojin's speech has been edited across all chapters now to hopefully better reflect the capabilities of a three year old. 
> 
> Anyways, I do hope you guys like it, it feels good to finally be able to put something out there again. Let me know what you guys think in the comments below if you have a moment, or drop by on twt (@AStrangeDaze) or my cc. No one ever chats with me :< I swear I'm not mean or crazy (or well, TOO crazy).

Daniel spends the entire morning in a daze.

 

How was Woojin doing with Seongwoo? While his son was a bundle of sunshine on most days, Daniel wasn’t so blind as to think Woojin couldn’t be an absolute brat on his bad days.

 

What if Woojin decides to test Seongwoo? Would Seongwoo be able to handle it? Or would he just give in to save himself the headache and leave Daniel with a child on a sugar high when he comes home from work?

 

What if Woojin realizes he doesn’t like Seongwoo all that much after all? What if Seongwoo had only agreed to babysit because he saw how run-down Daniel’s place and realized he probably couldn’t afford to pay a babysitter with his friends unable to help out? He didn’t want the older man to pity him, hell, he still couldn’t get over the fact that Seongwoo had shown up on his doorstep suddenly, sent his way by Hwang Minhyun himself (that traitor).

 

Wait, what if Seongwoo feeds Woojin shellfish?!

 

Woojin might not be as allergic as Daniel was but he broke out in uncomfortable rashes all over. Did Daniel remember to tell Seongwoo that his son was allergic? Had one of his friends? Or would Seongwoo remember Daniel’s own allergy and err on the side of caution?

 

His phone is in his hands before he even realizes it, ready to dial Seongwoo’s number.

 

_“Kang-ssi.”_

 

Daniel’s head whips up and he grins at his supervisor sheepishly, quickly slipping his phone back into his pocket under his desk.

 

“Sorry sir, just, uh, waiting on a call from a client,” he fibs, keeping his eyes wide to try and make it look believable.

 

His supervisor doesn’t buy it for a moment and stares down his nose at him making Daniel feel like a misbehaving schoolboy. He manages to be stern for all of ten seconds before he breathes out heavily, pulling his glasses off and rubbing at the indents in the bridge of his nose tiredly. Daniel immediately feels guilty for stressing him out, knowing how many late shifts the older man has been pulling lately because the other supervisor was on sick leave.

 

“Look Daniel, I’m a father myself so I understand that you’re worried about how your son is doing with a new babysitter, but I need you to focus here. You haven’t been pulling the numbers lately and if the boss catches you distracted like that, you’re going to end up out of a job, and then how’re you going to keep a roof over your heads and put food on the table for your son?”

 

Daniel bites his lip and looks down, “Sorry sir.”

 

“I’m sure your babysitter will call you directly if anything went wrong, and if there is a family emergency and you need to leave, I won’t stop you. But until then I need you to put your phone away and do your job. Understand?”

 

“Yes sir.”

 

His manager clasps him on the shoulder and slips two folders onto his desk. “You’re a good man, Daniel, and a hard worker. I’d hate to see you fired when you have a little one at home. Take a look over these two profiles and then give the clients a call would you? If you can make a sale with both of them, it’ll boost your numbers.”

 

Daniel looks up at his supervisor, jaw dropped, “I, sir, but these are your clients! How could I-”

 

“Just take them Daniel,” the man said with a pinched smile, “I can barely keep up with the workload now that Jinho-ssi is off. Let’s not lose clients as well because we don’t have the time to give them the attention they deserve, yes? I’m counting on you.”

 

“Yes sir, of course sir! I won’t disappoint you!”

 

* * *

  

Daniel opens the door at the end of a long shift expecting and looking forward to the usual excited call of “Dadda!” and gets……nothing.

 

The television running in the living room is what greets him instead, the garbled strains of some cartoon program playing at a low volume. He steps inside the tiny apartment gingerly, toeing his shoes off as he looks around, feeling oddly out of place in his own apartment. There's the lingering scent of food in the air and he pauses, the dining table near the front door has a plate left out, carefully covered, with a new drawing from Woojin proudly on display beside it.

 

Daniel smiles as he runs his fingers over the wobbly crayon lines that make up the race car that dominated the page, Woojin’s latest obsession ever since he has opened a set of Hotwheels toys complete with a racetrack that Taewoong had gifted the three year old with for his birthday. His son had coloured the car in enthusiastically, bright red escaping his own lines and over the “VROOM VROOM” penned in behind the car in an adult’s careful hand. Daniel inhales sharply as the image of Seongwoo sitting at the table or laying on the floor to draw with Woojin floods his mind.

 

Biting his lip, he reaches over to remove the plastic cover usually used for microwaving food, swallowing compulsively at the carefully set aside dinner staring back at him. Rice with hamburger steak, sunshine egg on top, and a side of vegetables - Daniel feels his lips pulling back in a bitterly fond smile even as the edges of his eyes prickle with tears.

 

There’s no meat in his fridge right now so Seongwoo must have gone shopping with Woojin, in fact, there was very little in his fridge right now so Seongwoo probably had very little choice but to go to the grocery store. Seongwoo must have gone and just wanted to make a meal that even the pickiest kids wouldn’t be able to resist eating.

 

But all Daniel can think of now is how Seongwoo’s hamburger steaks used to be one of his favourite meals back when they were both students and Seongwoo was living on a budget and much too strapped for living expenses to buy real steak but had wanted to make something special for their first anniversary anyways. Daniel picks up the plate with shaking hands and reheats it in the microwave, sitting down at the kitchen table heavily as he picks up the cutlery thoughtfully left on the side.

 

His vision swims with tears at the first bite of that familiar taste, trying to recall when was the last time he had come home to a home-cooked meal. How many years had it been really? The five star worthy meals churned out by cooks at home before he had been kicked out didn’t really count and he had eaten out more often than not back when he hated being in the same house as his parents more than absolutely necessary. A few meals perhaps, here and there, that Jisung or Minhyun would leave packaged in his fridge when they visited to make things easier for him and Woojin. But the last time he had come back at the end of a long day, tired and weary, to a kind smile and warmly prepared food just for him had been…..had been Seongwoo.

 

He choked back a laugh even as he gives up pushing his tears aside, letting them run freely down his cheeks as he puts away the rest of the plate easily, feeling a guilty pleasure in relishing in the food Seongwoo had made for him. That somehow five years after they had parted so bitterly he would have the chance to taste his ex-boyfriend’s cooking again.

 

Seongwoo’s cooking skills had improved, Daniel muses to himself with an unseemly snort, the first time he had made the dish one side had been completely burnt but now it was perfect. He wonders how often Seongwoo has made this dish over the years and, his hand stutters to a halt as the knife in his grip drags across the lightly chipped plate with a discordant screech.

 

And who else he has cooked for.

 

 _Don’t_ , he scolds himself, spearing the last of the vegetables and shoving it into his mouth with a stubborn motion, _don’t think like that. You don’t get to think that way, you don’t get to be jealous when you were the one who wasn’t strong enough to stay, when you were the one who ended things. It doesn’t matter if Seongwoo cooked for a hundred people while you hid away like a coward. You have no right, no right at all to be jealous, so stop it._

 

With that thought, he stands decisively and places the plate into the sink to be cleaned later, wiping away his tears roughly on his sleeves, hoping that his eyes weren’t as red and swollen as he suspected them to be. Daniel takes two steps into the living room and freezes, almost biting clean through his lower lip as his breath stutters to the time of his heart and his newly found determination vanishes instantly.

 

There, sprawled out on the ratty couch much too short to fit his long limbs was Seongwoo dozingsoftly, one arm wrapped protectively around Woojin whose tiny form was draped over Seongwoo’s chest, face smooshed into the older man’s shoulder and dead to the world. Seongwoo’s neck looked like it was bent in an uncomfortable angle, legs hanging off the edge precariously, and yet he looked so peaceful with Daniel’s son cuddled up to him, breaths coming out in soft huffing sounds against Seongwoo’s throat that he dared not wake them.

 

Seongwoo looked as if he belonged in this rundown apartment, like he belonged here with Daniel’s son in his arms and asleep on his cramped couch. He should be out of place, should stick out like a sore thumb with his designer clothes and his perfect skin, and yet he didn’t. He looked like he was exactly where he needed to be, _like where Daniel wanted him to be_ , and Daniel felt like someone had just punched him in the throat at the sight. He swallows thickly, once, twice, and then back-peddles until he stumbles through his bedroom and into the little ensuite attached.

 

He strips off his clothes mechanically and hops into the shower, turning the water on until the torrents muffle any sounds he might make and lets himself fall apart under the spray.

 

* * *

 

 By the time Daniel steps back into the living room he’s tripled-checked to make sure that any traces of him having cried are minimized or easily explained away.

 

He pauses in the doorway at the side of Seongwoo who must have woken up while Daniel was in the shower now puttering around Daniel’s tiny shoebox of a kitchen, setting the last of the dishes to dry on the rack and then moving to wipe down the countertop. Woojin was still sound asleep on the couch, a comforter laid over the tiny form thoughtfully though the child had since dislodged a corner of it, leaving one leg still pudgy with baby-fat hanging off the side.

 

“You don’t have to do the dishes,” Daniel starts somewhat awkwardly, biting back a laugh when Seongwoo startles and almost flings the damp kitchen rag at Daniel’s face in his shock.

 

“You scared me,” the older man laughs making brief eye contact with Daniel before looking away and busying himself with rearranging cups that had no need to be moved at all, “and it’s no bother at all, I figured you’d probably be tired when you got home.”

 

“I was,” Daniel admits, making his way hesitantly to Seongwoo’s side and hovering a few feet away rather uselessly, “Uh, how was Woojin today? Did he give you any trouble?”

 

“No, no trouble at all. I took him down to the park for an hour or so after he got bored of his toys here, and then we went grocery shopping since you didn’t have much. We had dinner and then we watched a maybe an episode or so of the cartoon he liked before we fell asleep. Oh! And I filled your fridge a bit, I hope you don’t mind, I just grabbed a bit of everything.”

 

“No, not at all, I…..I appreciate everything you’ve done for me today, for us. And…and for dinner, you really didn’t have to.”

 

A beat and then Seongwoo smiles though he still won’t meet Daniel’s eyes. “I know we’ve……grown apart,” he gives a little half-laugh at his own words even as he fiddles with the cups some more, “but Daniel, you. You’re always going to be someone I care about. We were friends before anything else and, I, I want you to know that if you ever need anything, if Woojin ever needs anything, I’ll help as best as I can. And I’m sorry if me being here today made you uncomfortable, I just. I just wanted to help.”

 

“No, I,” Daniel swallows his fear down for the moment, finds himself reaching out to ease the mug out of Seongwoo’s hands before he can think better of it, leaving the two of them with their hands awkwardly joined.

 

Seongwoo is looking at him now with this wide-eyed startled look, the same endearing large eyes with his thin lips in a perfect “o” that Daniel remembered, but he makes no move to remove his hands from Daniel’s grasp and Daniel cannot bring himself to step away. “I, I’m grateful, I’m very grateful for your help. Just, I wish you wouldn’t……have to. I wish you didn’t have to pity me.”

 

“I don’t-”

 

Daniel cuts him off with a laugh, “You do, I can see it in your eyes, I still know you that well at least, spare me my dignity please.”

 

“Daniel, I really don’t-”

 

“Dadda?”

 

The sound of Woojin’s sleepy voice had both adults springing apart immediately as if they had something to be guilty over, though thankfully Daniel had the presence of mind not to drop the mug in his hands. In a reverse of the situation from earlier, Seongwoo reached over lightning quick to pluck the mug from Daniel’s palm before nudging him towards his son and Daniel hurries over.

 

“Hey baby,” he scoops the still half-awake boy into his arms and cuddled him close, feeling something within him loosen now that his son was safely ensconced in his arms, “Sorry, did we wake you?”

 

“Dadda home,” Woojin mumbles, yawning widely before presenting his cheek to Daniel demandingly, “Kiss.”

 

Daniel chuckles and obliges him happily, pressing several loud kisses against Woojin’s skin until the three year old was giggling happily, “Stop dadda! ‘Nuff!”

 

Daniel gasps dramatically, “You don’t want my kisses anymore, Woojinie?”

 

“Tickle! Dadda stop! ” Woojin exclaims, wiggling around to try and escape the raspberries Daniel blows against his cheek, kicking his legs excitedly when he spots Seongwoo who is standing there looking at them with a soft fondness, “Un’ca Se’woo! Help Woojinie!”

 

Seongwoo hesitated for half a measure before Woojin’s pitiful whining has him swooping in to pluck the child from his father’s arms.

 

“Hey!” Daniel mock protested, running after Seongwoo with exaggerated steps and fingers outstretched in fake claws to Woojin’s great delight as the younger boy squealed excitedly, “Get back here, you can’t escape the great kissing monster!”

 

“Quick Un’ca Se’woo, go fast, go fast!” Woojin urges, clinging to Seongwoo as the older man held the child close and ran circles around the dining table with Daniel chasing the two of them.

 

Seongwoo feints to the left and then makes a mad dash right, hoping to head towards the bedroom only to be cut off by Daniel and forced to flee into the living room, Daniel hot on his heels and Woojin laughing and screaming happily for Seongwoo to go faster.

 

“I’ve got you now!” Daniel announces in a gruff voice before trying to swoop in and steal Woojin, only he manages to tackle Seongwoo into the couch in the process, sending all three of them flying into the cushions.

 

Woojin giggles wildly from where he is squished between the two adults as Daniel ducks his head down to pepper Woojin’s face with kisses, catching his little hands and pressing kisses to those chubby palms as well when his son squeals and tries to push his face away. He looks up with a grin only to stop breathing for a moment when he realizes how close his face is to Seongwoo’s and the position that they are in with Daniel effectively pining the elder to the couch.

 

He half expects Seongwoo to reach out and shove him off but the older man does nothing of the sort, holding his gaze for a heartbeat before turning his face away with a cough and a light blush on his cheeks that Daniel’s hands itches to reach out and brush and trace with his fingertips. To see if Seongwoo’s skin is still as smooth and soft to the touch as he remembers, and in that moment he aches for it, yearns to lean forward to close the distance and taste that blush with his lips, to maybe reach out and-

 

Daniel throws himself backwards wildly, heart hammering, his own cheeks flushed crimson.

 

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid_ , he scolds himself even as Woojin laughs, high and carefree, at the sight of his silly father tumbling across the play mat, _he’s here as a friend because he still cares for you somehow, do you need to throw yourself at him like that? Give him another reason to pity you?_

 

Seongwoo, too, frees himself of that odd moment, looking just the slightest bit shaken as he stands awkwardly, taking Woojin with him. The three year old is content to nestle into his arms, turning a sleepy face into the crook of Seongwoo’s neck.

 

“Woojin-ah,” Seongwoo says softly though he keeps his eyes on Daniel and a careful distance between them, “Uncle Seongwoo has to go now.”

 

“No!” Woojin protests immediately, fisting his hands into the front of Seongwoo’s shirt with all the strength he has, a stubborn gleam taking over his sleepy eyes, “Un’ca Se’woo 'tay!”

 

“I can’t stay here darling,” Seongwoo tries to explain, still cradling Woojin against his chest as if he cannot bear to let the child go, “Uncle Seongwoo has to go to work tomorrow, I’ll come visit you another time, okay? I promise I’ll be back, but I can’t stay.”

 

The three year old seems to consider this seriously before nodding solemnly, squirming until Seongwoo holds him up closer to eye level.

 

“Un’ca Se’woo kiss!” Woojin pushes against Seongwoo to make his request known, tiny hands planted on his shoulders demandingly and presenting his cheek for affection as if he knows he can never be denied.

 

Daniel picks himself up slowly and hesitantly makes his way over to Seongwoo who focuses his attentions on Woojin instead. “A kiss?” he gasps dramatically, “Are you sure, Woojinie? I thought you didn’t like kisses.”

 

“Wan’ kiss!” Woojin demands, bouncing up and down impatiently, pressing closer with a pout, “Goo-bye kiss!”

 

“Alright,” Seongwoo agrees easily, leaning in to press a kiss to each other Woojin’s chubby cheeks, rubbing their noses together as the toddler squeals in delight and copies the motion, both his hands coming up to hold Seongwoo’s face, “Good night Woojinie.”

 

“No!”

 

“Now now, Woojin,” Daniel moves in to take his son from Seongwoo, “You got your kisses, Seongwoo hyung has to leave now.”

 

“No! Goo-bye kiss!”

 

“You got your kisses,” Daniel repeats patiently, bouncing his squirming child up and down in an attempt to calm him, “now let’s say goodbye nicely, hmm?”

 

“Dadda goo-bye kiss!”

 

“Woojin-ah, don’t be greedy-”

 

“Un’ca Se’woo, dadda need kiss!”

 

The two adults splutter, Seongwoo almost falling over from where he had been pulling his shoes on while Daniel barely manages not to drop his son.

 

“Now Woojin, your Uncle Seongwoo is busy and daddy doesn’t need a kiss,” he tries to explain only to be cut off.”

 

“Kiss!” the three year old insists shrilly, face starting to turn red , “Goo-bye need kiss! Dadda say!”

 

“Woojin-ah-”

 

“Why no?” the three year old starts to blubber, looking genuinely distressed as the adults look at each other helplessly, “Woojin good, dadda good, need goo-bye kiss!”

 

“I’m sorry,” Daniel tries to apologize as his son begins to wail, “you can just go, I don’t know what’s got him so fixated on this. It’s probably my fault for starting this ritual with him, but I’m not sure why he’s insisting you and I, err, yeah. Anyways, I’ll calm him down, it’ll be fine.”

 

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” Seongwoo gives him a weak smile before shooting Woojin a worried look, “Are you sure you’ll be alright though? He seems very upset about this.”

 

“He’ll probably cry himself out,” Daniel sighs, bouncing the toddler up and down and making soothing sounds, “it’s fine, he can’t always have what he wants.”

 

“I know, it’s just,” Seongwoo sighs heavily, “sorry, do you mind if I hold him for a moment?”

 

“Huh? No, uh, here,” he passes the screaming toddler to Seongwoo who readjusts him in his grip only a little awkwardly, one hand coming up to cup the back of Woojin’s head, stroking his hair soothingly.

 

“Woojinie-ah,” Seongwoo croons, “darling, can you take a deep breath for me?”

 

Woojin turns towards Seongwoo, his little chest heaving as he tries and fails to calm down.

 

“Let’s do it together, hmm? On the count of three, we’ll take a biiiiig breath and blow it out like the big bad wolf, okay? One, two, three-”

 

Woojing struggles a bit but manages to stop his sobs for long enough to follow Seongwoo’s instructions. The older man beams at the toddler proudly, lifting his sleeve to blot away the tears, “There we go, that was good Woojinie, that was very good. Take another deep breath and awoooooooo! Very good! Okay Woojinie, do you think you can tell Uncle Seongwoo why you’re so upset?”

 

“No kiss dadda,” he declares through trembling lips, “haf’ta, haf’ta kiss!”

 

“Why does your daddy need a kiss, Woojin-ah?” Seongwoo asks gently, still rocking the child back and forth.

 

“Woojinie kiss, dadda kiss. Kiss fo’ goo’ boy.”

 

“Kisses are for good boys?” Seongwoo repeats, trying his best to understand as the toddler nods resolutely, “And, and if your daddy doesn’t get a kiss?”

 

“No kiss bad,” Woojin whispers, lower lip starting to tremble again.

 

“Okay,” Seongwoo takes a step closer to Daniel and bits his lower lip, “How about you give your daddy the kiss for me, Woojin-ah?”

 

“No.”

 

“No?”

 

“No,” Woojin shakes his head, “Un’ca Se’woo goo-bye, Un’ca Se’woo kiss. Pom’sed.”

 

“Okay, okay,” Seongwoo caves in, inching towards Daniel and eyeing him uncertainly, “one goodbye kiss, and then Uncle Seongwoo has to go, okay? And no more crying, Woojinie.”

 

“Kay.”

 

“Promise?”

 

“Pom’sed,” the three year old agrees, sticking his thumb into his mouth and sucking on it as he only did when he was upset and tired.

 

“Okay, it’s a promise then.”

 

Seongwoo worries at his lip and looks at Daniel shyly, taking a breath and steeling himself before leaning up to brush the barest of butterfly kisses against Daniel’s cheek, leaving behind a scorching trail and the scent of his cologne. “Sorry, I should have asked you first,” he whispers as he pulls away.

 

Daniel stands frozen, fighting the urge to reach out and pull Seongwoo back towards him, to beg for those lips to grace his skin again.

 

“Okay, Woojinie, your daddy’s got his kiss,” Seongwoo hands him back to a wooden Daniel, shrugging on his jacket properly and turning to unlock the door, “I’m leaving now, good night and be good for your daddy, okay?”

 

“Kay,” the three year old waves, eyes dropping now that the excitement was passing and his condition satisfied, “bye bye.”

 

“Goodbye Woojinie,” Seongwoo pauses in his motion to ease the door shut behind him, “Bye Daniel, I’ll….I guess I’ll see you around. Have a good night.”

 

“Right,” Daniel clears his throat, “Thanks again for babysitting today.”

 

“Anytime, take care,” Seongwoo throws over his shoulder as the door shuts and he’s out of view finally and Daniel can breathe again.

 

“Take care,” he echoes, lifting a wondering hand to spot on his cheek that was still burning, holding his dozing three year old close, “take care.”

 

 _What are you doing to me, Ong Seongwoo?_ He wonders, staring down at his exhausted child whose eyes were red and puffy from crying now, _What are you doing to the both of us?_


	5. V

“Dadda?”

 

“Yes Woojinie?” Daniel calls out, keeping half an eye on the stir-fry on the stove as he turns to address his son.

 

The three year old was colouring at the dinning table, sitting in his booster seat while kicking his legs back and forth, getting more crayon onto the table than his sketchpad and Daniel resolves to scrub down the table before dinner so Woojin doesn’t end up eating bits of wax. He looks up at Daniel now, three crayons clutched in one small hand, doe eyes bright, holding out his sippy cup in the other with an imploring stare, “More ju?

 

“You want more juice, buddy?”

 

Woojin nods decisively, smiling and offering his cup to his dad insistently, “Apple ju!”

 

Daniel laughs and turns down the heat so he can grab the cup from his son, stopping to press a kiss to the top of his head before heading towards the fridge, “Okay buddy, apple juice it is.”

 

He pulls the fridge doors open and then stutters for a moment to stare at the unfamiliar brand of juice on the side shelf. The almost empty carton with “organic” emblazoned across the top stares back almost mockingly and he shakes his head to dislodge the wool gathering between his ears, snagging the carton and pouring a generous portion into the sippy cup before depositing it back into the fridge so he could shut the door and forget about it again until the next time Woojin wants juice.

 

“Here you go buddy, finish up your drawing and then we’re going to eat dinner, okay?”

 

“Kay!” Woojin grabs at the cup eagerly with both hands, tilting it back and guzzling the juice down, “t’ank you dadda.”

 

“You’re welcome, awww, my Woojinie is so polite,” Daniel coos, bending to nuzzle their cheeks together at his son giggles before moving back to the stove and breathing a sigh of relief at the lack of a burning smell.

 

“Dadda?”

 

“Yes Woojinie?”

 

“Play?”

 

“Not now, Woojinie, maybe after dinner.”

 

“Unc’a Se’woo play?”

 

Daniel’s heart clenches but he gamely keeps a smile on his face for his son, “You just saw your Uncle Seongwoo last week, Woojinie. He’s busy, you can……you can see him another time.”

 

Woojin stares at him with a tiny frown between his brows before he closes his mouth around opening of his sippy cup and sucks petulantly. A part of Daniel resents and delights in the fact that Woojin has become so fixated on Seongwoo in equal measures. He glances at his cellphone that’s set on the countertop. How easy it would be just to reach out and pick it up, dial Seongwoo’s number that he’s memorized by heart and use Woojin as an excuse, invite him for dinner as a thank you for last week-

 

Except he can’t. Should never.

 

Daniel pushes away the memory of Seongwoo’s body pressed against his, of the heat that had seeped through his bones and straight into his soul. For a second he can almost imagine the brush of Seongwoo’s lips against his cheeks again, the heady familiar scent of his cologne and he shakes his head. _Focus, focus. You’re not a child in love anymore, you are a man grown and a father before everything._ He turns off the stove and heaps the stir-fry onto one of the larger plates he owns, fake china with a small chip in it from when he dropped it one too many times, setting it aside and then putting the pan in the sink to be washed later.

 

 _Focus, focus._ He looks around to see that yes, he will have to wipe down the table before dinner and probably should try his hand at removing the stain on the floor again later this week.

 

“Woojinie-ah,” he walks over to lift the boy out of his booster seat, “Can you go wash your hands? It’s time for dinner.”

 

“Kay,” the three year old sings, darting down the hall towards the washroom, humming the Pororo theme song under his breath, and Daniel listens to his tiny feet pattering against the aged wooden flooring that creaked under Woojin’s weight.

 

No, there was no place for Seongwoo in this worn down apartment or in his life, and Daniel needs to remember, to hold his chest shut, to remember the wound has closed however crudely, and not wonder at how perfectly Seongwoo might still fit into the empty chasm within his heart.

 

He turns back to the fridge and pulls out the apple juice again, pouring the last half cup into a mug for himself and downing it in a single shot as if he could swallow down all his turmoil and resentment with it. He chucks the empty carton boasting it’s ‘organic’ award winning properties into the recycling with more strength than the action warranted before grabbing a rag and dabbing some soap unto it.

 

He had a table to clean and a child to feed, there was no time for useless fancies.

 

* * *

 

“Your son has expensive tastes now,” Jisung jokes with him the moment Daniel steps in through the door, “He’s going to empty this uncle’s wallet in no time.”

 

Daniel laughs and shrugs off his coat, throwing it at the coatrack just lightly enough so the old wooden thing didn’t topple over again. “Thanks for watching him, but it’s all your fault for spoiling him all the time; you guys take him out to all these themed cafes and buy him toys on the days you watch him. Just last week, Jonghyun almost caved and bought him a _puppy_ and then I had to endure days of him begging for a pet.”

 

“At least he’s stopped now? And I didn’t spoil him this time, I just took him grocery shopping with me and he kept asking for apple juice.”

 

“So?” Daniel pokes his head into the bedroom to see Woojin snuggled against one of his plushies, taking a nap, “He knows he’s not going to get soda, of course he’ll ask for whatever’s sweet instead of water.”

 

“Yeah,” Jisung snorts, jerking his thumb towards the fridge, “Except he kept begging for that organic brand, insisting that it’s ‘yummy’, it’s like three times the price of the regular kind!”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah, _oh_ , when did-” Jisung pauses for a moment, taking in the rigid cast of Daniel’s limbs, “wait, I don’t like the sound of that ‘oh’, fess up.”

 

Daniel strides over to the fridge and yanks it open, sighing at the sight of the carton marked ‘organic’ that greeted him, “You gave in.”

 

“You weren’t there to see his face!” Jisung protests, “I figured it was just juice, yeah it’s a bit pricey, but what’s the harm? Now explain, when did you feed this to him.”

 

“I didn’t,” Daniel sighs and runs a hand through his hair roughly, dropping into one of the rickety chairs, “Last week when Woojin’s school was closed, Seongwoo……Minhyun couldn’t make it and so Seongwoo stepped in and looked after Woojinie for the day. He got the juice for Woojin when they went shopping.”

 

“Ahh,” Jisung’s lips twist slightly, “No wonder. Are you……okay?”

 

“I have to be, don’t I?” Daniel laughs, “I’m being stupid, it’s been five years, I should be over this. He’s just…….being a good person, trying to make things easier for me. Just like before.”

 

“I hardly call barging in like this making it easier for you. Do you want me to talk to him?”

 

“No, don’t, it’s fine, I swear. It was just a one-off, an emergency. I don’t think we’ll see each other again. We shouldn’t”

 

Jisung looks at him, disbelief mixed with pity that makes Daniel’s stomach churn, “Shouldn’t doesn’t mean anything in the long run. Do you…do you want to see him again?”

 

“I don’t know,” Daniel says softly, tracing the grain of the table with fingers that yearned to trace jawlines and the curve of smiling lips, “I don’t know.”

 

* * *

 

Daniel curses, glancing at the clock on the office wall; his client still wasn’t here and there was no way he was going to make it in time to pick up Woojin if he didn’t leave now. He couldn’t afford to pay the penalty for not picking him up on time, nor could he afford leaving in case the client did show up and was just running late. He looks around to make sure there’s no one looking for him before ducking into the washroom to make a call.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Jonghyun hyung, sorry to bother you but your office is closest to Woojin’s preschool. I’m uh, I’m stuck at work still, my client hasn’t showed up but he’s due to sign the contract today so I can’t leave. Could you pick Woojin up? I’ll come as soon as I can, I promise, it’s just-”

 

“Daniel, calm down, it’s fine. I’ll go get him, it’s no trouble, just call the school to let them know I’m going to pick him up instead of you.”

 

Daniel heaves a huge sigh of relief, feeling a weight lift off his chest, “Thank you so much hyung, I don’t know what I’d do if you couldn’t, I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”

 

“Really, don’t worry about it, I don’t mind at all, it’s just….”

 

“Just?”

 

“I had plans tonight with Seongwoo, if your client takes a bit longer, do you mind if I bring Woojin along?”

 

Daniel bites his lip.

 

Again, their lives were intersecting again. Why was the universe suddenly so insistent in reminding Daniel of Seongwoo? Then again, these were Seongwoo’s friends as well, Daniel couldn’t claim a monopoly on them though now he wondered how much Seongwoo has heard over the years and how much they had held back telling Daniel, how often they had censored themselves to wipe Seongwoo’s existence out from his life.

 

“Daniel? I can text him and cancel, he’ll understand.”

 

“No, no! Sorry I was just thinking; don’t change your plans, please, you’re already doing me a huge favour. If I’m late just…Woojinie has been asking to see Seongwoo anyways.”

 

“Are you sure?” Jonghyun’s worry is conveyed perfectly even through the phone, “I see him all the time, we can just reschedule.”

 

“Really, thanks again hyung, I’ll call the school now, sorry for the trouble, see you tonight!”

 

He hangs up before Jonghyun has the chance to continue along that line of questioning, pulling up the school’s contact and dialing the number quickly, without giving his own mind a chance to linger.

 

“Hello? Ah, this is Kang Daniel, Woojin’s father? Yes, yes, a family friend is going to pick up Woojin on my behalf today, Kim Jonghyun……yes….”

 

* * *

 

“Dadda!”

  


“Hey baby,” Daniel bends down with arms wide open to catch his son who shot towards him like a tiny bullet the moment he laid eyes on his father, “Were you good for Uncle Jonghyun?”

  


“Woojinie good!” the three year old declares proudly, tiny arms wrapped around Daniel’s neck as he clung tightly to his father.

 

“That’s great,” he bounced his son up and down as the boy giggled, walking back towards where Jonghyun was seated, half-eaten dinner still spread across the table, “did you have fun today?”

 

“Yes! Seonho hyung puppy! Big puppy!”

 

“Oh?”  


 

“His friend’s mom brought their family dog along with her when she came to pick him up today,” Jonghyun explains, having followed Woojin closely the moment the toddler took off for his father’s arms, “Woojin’s dreams of owning a puppy has now been reignited, I think he clung to the dog’s mane for a good thirty minutes before I could convince him to left go. Kid’s got a strong grip.”  


 

"Well we don’t have room at home for a puppy, but I'm sure if you ask nicely you can have a play date with your Seonho hyung and see the puppy again," Daniel smiles at Woojin who nods eagerly, continuing to babble about the dog.  


 

"Thanks again for picking him up, hyung, I know he can be a handful. Did you......" he glances around the restaurant, seeing only strangers, "did you end up cancelling your plans? Ah, hyung, you're making me feel bad!" 

 

Jonghyun shakes his head, gesturing for Daniel to take a seat and then sets about quickly piling food onto his plate, pushing it towards him and Daniel picks up his chopsticks with a chagrined smile, “Seongwoo went to the washroom.”

 

“Ah,” Daniel nods, stuffing a piece of sweet and sour chicken into his mouth to give himself an excuse not to answer.

 

As if on cue, Woojin squeals happily and shimmies off of Daniel’s lap and slides down his legs, “Unc’a Se’woo!”

 

“Woah, careful!” 

 

Daniel turns in time to see Seongwoo sprint forward towards Woojin whose shoe had caught on a loose corner of the carpet, catching the child just in time and hoisting him up into the air, clutching him close with wide eyes. His lips quirk into a smile, reliving all the various ways Woojin gives him mini heart attacks on the daily when he almost hurts himself.

 

“Let’s not run inside like that, okay Woojinie? If you fall and get hurt then we won’t be able to play anymore! So no more running, okay?” Seongwoo cajols the three year old and Woojin beams, not quite understanding but more than happy to snuggle close against his new favourite person instead.

 

“Kay!”

 

Seongwoo carries Woojin back to the table, giving Daniel a terse nod before sitting down and moving to return Woojin to his highchair. The toddler whines, sinking his fingers like tiny claws into the front of Seongwoo’s sweater and refusing to be parted from him, “No!”

 

“Come on Woojinie,” he tries to coax, “You’re a big boy now and big boys sit by themselves, right?”

 

“No! Sit here!” Woojin gestures to Seongwoo’s lap and clings harder, lip stuck out in a pout.

 

“Woojinie-ah,” Daniel tries, only to falter when Woojin turns wobbling lips and teary eyes towards him.

 

“Wan’ Unc’a Se’woo!”

 

“Woojin-ah,” Jonghyun intercedes before either of them can crumble any further, “If you don’t sit in your highchair by yourself, your Uncle Seongwo will have to leave, okay?”

 

“No!”

 

“Then sit in your highchair,” Seongwoo joins in, “It’s a special chair just for Woojinie! So sit there like a big boy, hmm?”

 

The toddler reluctantly allows himself to be manoeuvred into the highchair, pouting finally ceasing when he realizes no one was going to relent. 

 

Thankfully, once he settles, the rest of the dinner goes uneventfully. Daniel feeds Woojin in between mouthfuls of his own dinner and makes stilted small talk with Seongwoo. The other man senses Daniel’s own unease easily enough and reciprocates, directing more of his conversation towards Jonghyun for which Daniel was grateful. Jonghyun quietly picks up the bill at the end of the dinner and waves away all of Daniel’s attempts to pitch it, although he’s certain he caught sight of Seongwoo discreetly slipping enough bills to cover at least half the cost into Jonghyun’s pocket. 

 

It’s late by the time they exit the restaurant, the night air still carries with it enough of a crisp chill that Daniel is glad he had made the choice to bundle Woojin up this morning regardless of the forecast for sunny afternoons. He’s got his son dozing lightly in his arms, having tired himself out from chasing a dog Jonghyun disclosed was way too big to be considered a puppy, and likely content from all the food he had eaten. He mentally calculates the bus route home and winces; two transfers and at least an hour rattling around in those old tin cans.

 

Daniel glances at his watch and curses under his breath. It was late and doubtless he was going to be up for a while yet, preparing lunch and other odds and ends. He was fully resigned to being tired at work tomorrow and likely Woojin was going to be cranky and hard to put to bed, and even harder to get up in the morning. 

 

He waves goodbye to Jonghyun and Seongwoo with his free hand before striding off in the direction of the bus stop; he’d best get moving if he hoped to catch the next bus.

 

“Daniel.”

 

He stops and turns; there’s a gentle hand on the back of his elbow, not quite a restraint, more a polite bid for his attention.

 

“Yes?”

 

Seongwoo stands behind him and fidgets, lips twisting as he looks at the pavement momentarily as if to ground himself before he lifts his eyes to hold Daniel’s for the first time all evening. They’re as warm as Daniel remembers, just as brilliant and welcoming, that sparkle of mischief tempered but not extinguished. 

 

“Let me give you two a lift,” he holds out his car keys to accentuate his point and Daniel sighs.

 

“I don’t want to trouble you, the bus is fine.”

 

It’s Seongwoo’s turn to sigh now and his grip on Daniel’s elbow tightens a tad, “Let me give you a ride; it’s late and cold, and you’re carrying Woojinie. Just please let me get you home safely.”

 

Daniel’s second refusal dies before it can leave his lips, dissolving faster than candy floss on his tongue and not tasting nearly as sweet. He opens his mouth to turn Seongwoo down anyways but then Woojin snuggles closer and the sensation of his little nose, cold at its tip, pressed against his neck weakens his resolve. 

 

“Daniel, please. It’s just a ride.”

 

“Fine,” he bites out, tense, moving to follow Seongwoo to his car and banishing any fluttering feelings at the sight of Seongwoo’s relieved smile, “Lead the way.”

 

Seongwoo is parked less than a block away and he helps Daniel open the door and settle inside with Woojin beside him. The toddler is still dead to the world and Daniel settles against plush leather seating with a sigh. Seongwoo hops into his seat and then turns on the ignition, cranking up the heat so that the car might warm up quickly.

 

“Just straight home, right?”

 

“Yes,” Daniel says stiffly, buckling himself in and craddling Woojin’s sleeping form close, “Thank you…..you really didn’t have to.”

 

“It makes no sense for you to be taking a bus for god knows how long when I’m heading the same way.”

 

“Still, you’re going out of your way, aren’t you?:

 

“It’s fine, I want to.”

 

Daniel falls silent, not really have a retort to that and just stares out the window, watching the lights pass as they drove in silence. He remembers their road trips to the beach, late night drives to nowhere, travelling to anywhere because the destination didn’t matter, only their presence did. Something spasms in his hold and Daniel startles, turning wide eyes to where his hand was now draped over Seongwoo’s on top of the gear shift. 

 

He’s mortified at how naturally he had reached over, as if it was five years ago, as if he still have a right to so casually take Seongwoo’s hand in his. He’s frozen by his own audacity and waits for Seongwoo to say something, to pull away, to knock his hand back, and yet the older man does nothing, says nothing.

 

Daniel is left holding his breath, heart pounding, as he stares resolutely in the opposite direction, the point of contact between him and Seongwoo the only thing he could focus on no matter how much he tries to ignore it. It burned where they touched, the sensation overwhelmingly searing into his senses. 

 

If he just shifted his hand a little bit, they would be holding hands properly. It would take almost nothing at all for him to lace their fingers together just like old days when things were simpler. When they went for drives together because Seongwoo loved to drive and Daniel loved being with Seongwoo and seeing him happy and relaxed in the driver’s seat. He sits there reminiscing, so lost in his thoughts and driven half-mad by his own daring that he barely even registers Seongwoo pulling to a stop outside of his apartment.

 

“We’re here,” Seongwoo says softly.

 

Daniel turns to stare at him, willing Seongwoo to turn and meet his eyes as well. 

 

He doesn’t, though his hand stays warm and pliant underneath Daniel’s and slowly Daniel withdraws his hand. “Thank you,” he swallows heavily, “For the ride.”

 

“It’s not a problem,” Seongwoo looks at him just long enough to flash him a quick smile before dropping his gaze and Daniel wants to ask why, to beg, to demand to know why Seongwoo refuses to look at him.

 

Instead the other man looks at Woojin and his gaze softens, hand reaching out to stroke a chubby cheek, “Do you need help bringing him up?”

 

“No, no, it’s fine, I got it,” he fumbles to unbuckle the seatbelt and groans quietly when it gets caught on Woojin’s foot.

 

Seongwoo laughs softly and leans over, “Hold still, I’ll get it.”

 

And then suddenly Seongwoo is in his space, close, too close, leaning in as he focuses on untangling the seatbelt without waking the child in Daniel’s arms. It feels like an eternity, though likely it was only seconds. He feels like Tantalus yearning for the forbidden fruit, forever starved for Seongwoo’s touch, for the taste of those lips so close to his yet with an infinite distance between them.

 

"There, all done," Seongwoo glances up at him from under his lashes and suddenly the air is electric, magnetic.

 

Maybe he was enchanted. Call it impulse, reckless, he doesn’t know. Daniel ducks his head and brushes his lips against Seongwoo’s cheek as close to the corner of his mouth as he dares and Seongwoo gasps sharply, jerking away as he stares at Daniel with wide eyes.

 

“Wha-”

 

“Goodnight kiss,” Daniel blurts out as he yanks the door open and stumbles out, taking off for his apartment at a run while Seongwoo stares after him, bewildered.

 

He doesn’t stop running until he’s back in the safety of his apartment, back against the closed door as he slides to the floor, a sense of sinking horror filling him when it finally registers to him what he had done. 

 

“Dadda?” Woojin blinks up at him sleepily.

 

_Oh god, what has he done?_


	6. VI

Daniel takes everything in his life that Seongwoo has touched, locks it all up in a box, and then buries it deep in the turbulent depths of his mind. 

  


He throws himself into his work, pulling longer hours every chance he is able to get someone to watch Woojin, taking extra work home with an ethic that has his boss praising him with a shrewd glint in his eye while his manager watches with a worried pinch between his brows. He turns away from every mention of  _his_  name in the group chats, their friends more open about the other’s presence now that he and Daniel had ‘officially’ reunited. He distracts his son every time he has questions about his new uncle with treats, with outings with other ‘uncles’, with playdates so Woojin could play with his upperclassman’s dog.

  


Some nights he lays awake, a bone-deep ache of exhaustion dragging his body down even as his mind whirs with possibilities he tries to shut out. If he could, Daniel would have ripped off his own traitorous lips which tingle every once in a while in remembrance of his own insanity, would claw off his own cheek at the phantom touch of petal soft lips ghosting against his skin. 

  


(And some mornings when he wakes and hovers in a haze, caught between reality and dream, he turns his head to the side and allows himself to imagine, just for a minute, that a warm, familiar body laid next to him.)

  


Three weeks.

  


He lives in his own make-belief world for three weeks, three peaceful weeks where he could almost pretend he had never seen Seongwoo again until reality rears it head and come knocking rudely on his door.

  


It starts with an assignment left on his desk that Daniel didn’t expect, a rare out-of-town assignment, a week-long series of meetings to close a deal with a big wig that would have usually been reserved for managers. There’s a look in his boss’s eye that Daniel knows well; he had seen that look numerous times before in his parents eyes, in his grandfather’s eyes. The look of someone assessing the worth of the person standing before them: is this an asset or a waste of space?

  


“Sir….”

  


“You’ve been pulling good numbers lately, Kang-ssi. You pick things up quickly and you work hard; Jin did well hiring you.”

  


He bows in acknowledgment of the praise, but stays silent, not wanting to interrupt. It seems to be the right choice as his boss continues to talk, “I’ll cut to the chase, Kim Youngmin has officially resigned from his post as of last week due to health-related reasons. Prove to me that you have what it takes and his position is your’s. Of course, you will be properly compensated for the increase of responsibilities.”

  


Daniel stares, frozen, fingers clenching tightly around the folder in his hand, barely holding back enough to avoid crushing it beyond repair. A promotion would mean more responsibilities, longer hours. He had taken this job and another at first for the flexible hours it gave him as a part-time worker until his savings dwindled too fast for comfort and he had needed to work full-time. This job had been just slightly more flexible in hours and his supervisor didn’t mind him taking work home and finishing it there as long as things were done. Monotonous, dead-end, desk work but it had been good enough to make ends meet. 

  


His initial instinct is to turn it down, wait until Woojin was older before taking on anything more time intensive.

  


But the promotion came with a raise. 

  


Woojin  _was_  getting older, and because he was getting older the things he needed were growing exponentially and with them came hefty price tags. Come Fall, the boy would be moving up a grade, entering Kindergarten properly, and the expenses would only grow from there.

  


If Daniel got a raise, they could live a little more comfortably. Maybe he could enroll Woojin in an after school program.  Maybe he could save up enough to get them a nicer place where the boy’s room wasn’t the size of a glorified walk-in closet. Maybe he could stop having to rely on the charity of his friends.

  


“Well?”

  


“I,” he swallows, “I’m honoured, Sir. But…I have a young child at home and his mother is…not in the picture. I, I would need to make arrangements before confirming if I am able to-”

  


“Give me your answer by noon,” the older man cuts him off brusquely, “Opportunities don’t wait around for you, kid. You leave in three days.”

  


With that, the man sweeps away from Daniel’s desk and strides into his private office, shutting the door firmly to signal to his secretary that he was to be left alone. Looking down at the file in his hand, Daniel steels himself and goes down his mental list of people who could take care of Woojin.

  


Jonghyun hyung was buried neck-deep in a project at work barely remembered to resurface for food unless Minhyun hyung dragged him out of his office by his ear, which also meant Minhyun hyung was too busy trying to keep Jonghyun from dying to take on a child. Jisung hyung was home visiting his parents for the first time in two years and Daniel would loathe to ask him to cut the trip short even though he knew his friend would say yes without hesitation. 

  


Jaehwan was overseas until end of next week.

  


Taewoong hyung had moved to the town over for his job a year back.

  


Taehyun and Sungwoon had a roommate Daniel had never met.

  


Hyunbin was still living at home with his parents. 

  


The further he went down his list, the more Daniel despaired of finding someone who could look after Woojin for an entire week. Jisung would have been ideal but there was absolutely no way Daniel was going to call his friend back for something this selfish, he imposed on the other man enough as it already was.

  


He could…it was possible for him to beg his friends to each take Woojin for just a day, but that would leave  _everyone_  scrambling to make room in their schedules and the toddler bouncing from one house to another, which was less than ideal and more than he felt comfortable asking. But what other option did he have? 

  


Time was ticking, his boss wanted a response by noon and Daniel didn’t have any family to leave Woojin with. There wasn’t anyone else left except-

  


His hands tremble as he picks up his cell phone and dials a number that he had long since carved into his memory before he can second-guess himself, heart thudding in his chest so hard he’s surprised his ribs don’t shatter from the force of it. 

  


“Hello?”

  


“…..Seongwoo hyung,” his pride stings on its way down his throat as he swallows hard, “I have a really big favour to ask….”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Daniel stands at the entrance to Seongwoo’s apartment, staring up at the pristine building, Woojin’s tiny hand in his as the three year old practically vibrated in his place from excitement. There’s panes upon panes of glass glistening in the light of the rising sun, highlighting all the picture-perfect balconies of the sleek high-rise apartment. Behind him, the gurgling sound of a fountain Daniel had had to fight to stop Woojin from jumping into mutes the sounds of passing traffic just a little. A woman walks by cradling a teacup poodle in the crook of her arm, wearing clothes that likely cost more than his annual salary, the likes of which Daniel thought he had seen the last of when he left home all those years ago.

  


He feels out of place already in his worn out suit, second-hand tie suddenly a noose, and he can feel the burn of her curious gaze searing into the side of his skull. 

  


He doesn’t belong in a place like this, not anymore, and a part of him wonders if this was all a terrible mistake, this favour he had desperately asked and which Seongwoo had agreed to with only a minute pause and no questions asked. (He wonders when Seongwoo, honest, down-to-earth, second child of a middle class family Seongwoo, started to belong in a place like this.)

  


“Dadda, go?”

  


Woojin’s insistent tugging on his hand breaks him out of his thoughts and he smiles down at him, bending down to hoist the boy up and settling him against his hip, needing to feel his son close as he drags the luggage behind him. There’s a doorman polishing the door handles who holds the doors open for him graciously seeing how his hands are full, face schooled into something professionally blank and respectful though Daniel knows he must also be wondering what the likes of Daniel is doing in a place like this. He walks over to the intercom and punches in the code for Seongwoo’s apartment, waiting with jitters vibrating in the soles of his feet.

  


There was no crackling like the aged system in his own unit, the old intercom that only worked reliably half the time. Instead the tinkling of a soothing piano fills the waiting area before there’s a soft click, “Hello?”

  


He licks his lips, clutching Woojin tighter as if drawing strength from the child, “Hyung, I’m here. Can you let us up?”

  


“Of course, take the elevators to your left, okay?”

  


The second set of doors buzz open for him and Daniel hurries through them, nodding his thanks again to the doorman before heading to the elevators. Inside the elevator, Woojin tries to clamber on top of the suitcase and Daniel laughs before bending to set the child down, making sure he’s seated comfortably, instructing him to hold on to the handle carefully. 

  


“Wheeee!” Woojin giggles, “Dadda fast! Go fast!”

  


Daniel laughs and obliges him, jogging lightly down the hallway towards Seongwoo’s unit, trying to commit Woojin’s happy laughter to memory. A week - he swallows hard - a week without his baby boy.

  


He rings the doorbell automatically, eyes still glued to the form of his son. He’s never been apart from Woojin for longer than twelve hours, not since he first found out Woojin was his. He had tried to explain to Woojin that daddy had to go away for a week and that he was going to be staying with his Uncle Seongwoo, but Daniel doesn't think the three year old understands what's going on. 

 

A wave of anxiety hits him all at once - will his son be alright without him? Will he wake up crying in the middle of the night or throw tantrums because Daniel isn't here? Will he think that Daniel abandoned him, think that his dad was never coming back? W ill  _he_  be alright without Woojin’s giggles and sweet face being the last thing he sees every night? Will he be alright without those tiny arms wrapped around his neck that make him feel like he could push on and hold up the entire world if he needed to just to see that gummy smile again?

  


“Daniel?”

  


“Un’ca Se’woo! Look! _Choo-choo_!”

  


Daniel startles back to reality, realizing he had  zoned out and missed Seongwoo opening the door, watching the other man turn away from him to lean forward and chat animatedly with Woojin who is still delighted to be riding his suitcase. 

 

This is it, he’s leaving his baby alone for a week. 

 

He's leaving his baby boy alone with a man he hasn't seen for five years who has every reason to hate him; it sound ludicrous when he spells it out like that but it's true. He might as well be leaving Woojin with the grandmother down the street he chats with briefly when he does groceries for how well acquainted he is with Seongwoo at this point.

  


Except that's not true, a little voice in his head whispers, that's not true because he has learned Seongwoo inside and out in the years that they spent together, when they had been so convinced there wasn't a any force in the world that could test their love, and as much as he had wanted to he had never been able to forget. He knows the side of the bed Seongwoo prefers to sleep in, knows that he brushes his teeth with green tea flavoured toothpaste instead of the more common mint flavoured ones, knows that he is impossible to get up in the morning and will stumble around smashing into furniture and whine about how the dresser hurt his pinky toe again to Daniel who would laugh and-

  


Daniel stops himself, looking at the cherubic grin on Woojin's face and the soft answering smile painted on Seongwoo's own, tempered and quite unlike the wild, wide grins he used to flash Daniel or those secretive smirks Seongwoo wore when he was about to get up to trouble. He used to do those things, used to like those things. Five years is a long time for a person to change, to acquire new habits, so why does Daniel still trust him inexplicably?  

  


Seongwoo looks at him now and nods slowly in greeting, reading the tense lines in Daniel's shoulders and the way he holds is jaw at an angle. "I'm mostly working from home this week," the man offers, "You can call me any time you feel the need to check on Woojinie. And I'll have him video call you every night to keep you updated. I promise I'll take care of him like..."

  


"Like?" Daniel croaks when Seongwoo trails off.

  


Seongwoo smiles and pats Woojin on the head, fingers carding through thick black locks slowly as the three year old preens under the attention, whispering his next words as if they were more for himself than for Daniel to hear, “….like he was my own."

 

Daniel can feel his traitorous heart stuttering wildly and he does the only thing he can think of, swooping in to scoop Woojin back up into his arms, holding his child close. “Dadda?” Woojin squirms a little, not understanding why his father was holding him so tightly all of a sudden but not really complaining, wiggling around until he could turn to loop tiny arms around Daniel’s neck.

 

Daniel only rocks his son back and forth, pressing a kiss to Woojin’s temple and inhaling the comforting scent of children’s shampoo and shea butter. In response, Woojin presses his own sloppy kisses to Daniel’s cheek, squeezing as hard as he would with those little arms, knowing in that uncanny way children do how to give comfort even when they do not understand exactly why and Daniel laughs to push back his tears.

 

“I’ve written down a list of things Woojinie doesn’t like to eat, and things he’s allergic to,” he says instead to Seongwoo, even though he struggles to meet the other man’s eyes, “It’s all in the notebook in the front pocket of his bag. His daycare opens at seven and pick up is by five thirty with a penalty for every minute afterwards, the address is written down as well. He’s usually in bed by eight, eight-thirty latest if he’s a bit hyper from sugar. He’s going to whine for treats because you’re still, well, new, but if you give in, you’re going to be in for a ride.”

 

“Okay,” Seongwoo reaches forward to pull the suitcase through the doorway, making no movements to remove Woojin from Daniel’s grasp, “Do you want to come in and see the rooms?”

 

_So you might feel more comfortable leaving him here,_ is left unspoken but understood and Daniel nods gratefully even as his stomach churns, screaming that he’s overstepping bounds he has no right to break. He’s forced to put Woojin down for a moment so he can take off his shoes without toppling both of them over and the three year old immediately toddles into the rest of the apartment, wide eyed and eager to explore everything. He takes off with the speed of a tiny rocket until he collides with one of Seongwoo’s legs, giggling madly to himself at the mock gasp the man gives, clinging on tightly as Seongwoo continues walking, lifting his leg in an exaggerated manner, child and all. 

 

Seongwoo’s apartment is not quite what Daniel was expecting, even though really he didn’t know _what_ to expect. As a designer maybe something minimalistic? Full of avant garde art pieces and futuristic furniture?

 

It’s not though, the space is tastefully decorated but warm. There are sketches scattered across the coffee table, the dining table looks to be made of repurposed wood, and the walls are littered with candid photos featuring Seongwoo and their friends, as well as people Daniel vaguely recalls seeing on billboards and magazine covers. Daniel follows Seongwoo past all of this and down a corridor to a guest room where he leaves the suitcase and bag with all of Woojin’s things. Looking at it now, he realizes he probably overpacked; Woojin was staying here for a week, not a month.

 

Daniel tries not to focus on the fact that Seongwoo’s guest room was the size of half his apartment, just starts listing off all the things he’s packed for Woojin that Seongwoo might need and the other man nods along indulgently, both of them keeping half an eye on Woojin who has scrambled on top of the bed and was bouncing around gleefully. 

 

All too soon the alarm that Daniel had set for himself on his phone beeps, reminding him that it is now nine o’clock, and he curses internally; he would have to leave for the station now to get there in time for his train. 

 

“Time to go?” Seongwoo prompts, to which Daniel nods stiffly.

 

“Yeah, my train is at ten fifteen and it’ll take at least 40 minutes to get there by bus so….better safe than sorry.”

 

“Hmm,” Seongwoo glances at the way Daniel’s eyes are glued to Woojin, fingers twitching as he fights the urge to wrap his arms around his son again and never let go, “…….did you eat yet?”

 

“Woojin had breakfast,” Daniel answers reflexively, “He should be good for another hour or so though he’ll probably start asking for snacks.”

 

“That’s not what I asked,” Seongwoo points out even as he moves to scoop Woojin up mid-jump, “Did _you_ eat yet?”

 

Daniel purses his lips and the looks away, “Does it matter? I’ve got a sandwich in my briefcase, I’ll eat on the train.”

 

Seongwoo sighs tohimself and instantly Daniel’s hackles rise, “What?”

 

“Nothing. Woojinie, let’s go with your daddy to the train station!”

 

“Kay!” the three year old cheers even as Daniel’s frown deepens.

 

“Stop that.”

 

“Stop what?” Seongwoo asks as he strides towards the door.

 

“ _This_.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“I don’t need you trying to take care of me. I don’t need your pity; I can get there just fine on my own.”

 

The older man stops to level him with a blank stare before turning back towards the door, “I’m not pitying you, I just figured Woojinie would like to spend more time with his father before he leaves for a week.”

 

“Stop making excuses.”

 

“What excuses?”

 

“You’re using _my_ son-”

 

“I am **not** ,” Seongwoo helps Woojin put his shoes back on before pulling his own on, “But we should go before you’re late.”

 

“There is no _we_ , I told you I’m fine getting there myself! I don’t need you there!”

 

His words ring out louder than he means them to, the sounds sharp, hanging persistently in the air around them and for a second Daniel doesn’t dare to breathe lest he cut himself on them, doesn’t dare look at Woojin who is surely wondering why his father is shouting. He can feel the shame welling up in him as he meets Seongwoo’s eyes and sees the way his brow pinches in a frown, how his lips thin. 

 

Seongwoo licks his lips and then opens the door, reaching down to grasp Woojin’s hand blindly, hiding his face from Daniel who follows him out the apartment and into the elevator for lack of a better option.

 

“I know there’s no ‘we’,” Seongwoo’s admission filters low in the space between them, watching the numbers on the display flicker in descending order as they drop towards the garage, “I know there is no ‘us’. I’m not-”

 

Here he sighs, tilting his head backwards sharply as he exhales, fingers clenched so tightly around his car keys they bite into his palm uncomfortably. “I _know_ I’m your last choice, I _know_ you’re only asking me for help because you have literally no one else to turn to. I _know_ you don’t want to be here, I _know_ you don’t really want to see me. **_I know all of this_** _._ Will you please just let me drive you to the station? You can come back in a week, pick up your son and pretend I don’t exist again for however long you want to this time until it’s convenient for you.”

 

“I don’t-”

 

“You do,” Seongwoo bites out his next words with a forced calm that has Daniel gulping, remembering now that Seongwoo’s real anger always burned cold even as he hurries after him into the car park, “You always ignore what you don’t want to deal with, it’s what you’re good at. And that’s _fine_ , I don’t care anymore, just stop fighting me for ten seconds when I’m just trying to make this a little easier for all of us.”

 

“I’m not- I didn’t-”

 

“Just get in the car, Daniel,” Seongwoo bends to secure Woojin in a carseat Daniel doesn’t remember being in the car the last time, "Get in the car and hold your son's hand and stop making this such a big deal."

 

Daniel looks at the tense lines of Seongwoo’s shoulders and regrets putting them there, hand reaching out on reflex before he aborts the movement jerkily. He looks at Woojin who is sitting silently in the back of the car, eyes wide and bewildered, not daring to make a peep since he heard his father shout at his uncle and hates himself even more.

 

He gets into the car without another word.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT May 5/18: No sure how many of you guys follow me on twitter, but if you're interested, pop by and see some extras for [more content](https://twitter.com/AStrangeDaze/status/992437915992121344) on this verse (:


	7. VII

They drive in silence, the only sounds in the car the hesitant questions from Woojin and Daniel’s halting answers. Seongwoo eventually pulls into a parking spot and then ushers them both into a cafe close to the station without another word to Daniel.

 

“I told you I can just eat on the train,” Daniel can’t resist saying even as his words return the lines of tension to Seongwoo’s shoulders.

 

“Table for three and a high chair please,” Seongwoo informs the hostess before dropping his voice into a tone so low Daniel almost misses it, “And your ‘sandwich’ is probably a melon bun which doesn’t count as a meal; save it for a snack, you’re going to be stuck on that train for hours.”

 

“I don’t need your charity,” Daniel mutters under his breath, the words losing a bit more heat than he would like and yet still sharper than he wanted to say in front of his son.

 

It’s enough to get Seongwoo to whirl around though, dark eyes ablaze with irritation. “So it’s not too much to ask me to watch your son but treating you to a meal is too much? Driving you to the station is too much.” he hisses, “Please, do go on. Why don’t we just write out a list of what’s arbitrarily okay and not okay to do before we get any further?”

 

Daniel bites his lip, feeling the heat in his chest burn bright as the indignation chokes the words right out of him.

 

“That’s what I thought,” Seongwoo’s lips twist before he forces them into a smile, “Woojinie-ah, are you hungry? Do you want a snack?”

 

“Ice-cream?” the three year old asks, wide-eyed and hopeful and Seongwoo laughs.

 

“It’s too early for ice-cream, how about pancakes? Or waffles?” he leans forward to tweak the toddler’s nose and whispers, “We can get whipped cream on top.”

 

“Wobbles!” Woojin cheers, completely butchering the word and Seongwoo laughs, unaware of how Daniel feels the lump in his throat grow larger.

 

“I hope you’re not going to feed him like this the entire week I’m gone,” he spits out, flipping through the menu aggressively, torn between ordering something cheap so he owes Seongwoo less and picking the most expensive thing in the damn menu out of spite.

 

Seongwoo rolls his eyes, “I’m not dumb Daniel, but it’s Sunday and a treat once in a while is okay, isn’t it?”

 

“Just don’t make it a habit,” he grouses half-heartedly, flagging down a waitress and placing his order quickly before letting Seongwoo order the waffle he seems intent on splitting with Woojin.

 

Daniel plays hand games with Woojin while they wait for the food to arrive and the three year old squints in total concentration, determined to beat his father though his hands are still a bit clumsy, still slapping off-centre or a beat too slow at times. The fancy burger that Daniel had ordered with an extra side of fries comes quickly enough which is a blessing because he is still on a time limit and Seongwoo thankfully says nothing about the fact that Daniel is eating something much heavier than appropriate for breakfast. It’s not yet nine thirty in the morning, yes, but Daniel is an adult now and he’ll have a greasy burger for breakfast if he wants to.

 

Seongwoo focuses on cutting the waffle into bite-sized pieces that he transfers onto a separate plate and putting a tiny dollop of whipped cream on each piece before passing a ‘big boy fork’ to Woojin who has been waiting impatiently. The three year old spears piece after piece of the waffle and gobbles them up. “Wobbles yummy!” Woojin repeats to himself from time to time as if the entire world needed to know and Daniel feels his heart melt a bit at the sight of his giggly three year old with cream smeared on his nose.

 

He reaches over to wipe it off with a napkin and Woojin offers him a bright grin before offering him a precariously speared piece of waffle, “Dadda wobble?”

 

Laughing, he leans forward to accept the bite of food before it ends up on the table, “Thanks baby, mmmm very yummy!”

 

Woojin seems delighted and instantly goes to feed Daniel another bite; Daniel resists the urge to scoop up his son and cuddle him to death. How did he end up with such a kind child? One who shared what he loved with others instead of hoarding it to himself?

 

He gives up on trying to hold back and just shuffles over, pulling Woojin to sit in his lap since this will be the last chance he has to hold his son in a while anyways. He ignores how this new seating arrangement puts him directly beside Seongwoo, rubbing a hand softly over Woojin’s belly, “Are you full, baby?”

 

“Wobbles,” Woojin intones solemnly, lower lip coming out in a pout as he senses his father’s intentions to stop him from gorging himself.

 

“You can have more waffles another time, baby, you’re going to make yourself sick if you keep eating,” Daniel pushes the plate back towards Seongwoo who accepts it without a word, holding out a slice of strawberry to Woojin instead.

 

“Woojinie, do you want some strawberries? They’re really yummy.”

 

“Yum yum?” the three year old questions even as he opens his mouth automatically, letting Seongwoo feed him the sliver of fruit.

 

Child sufficiently distracted by strawberries, Daniel finishes the last of his fries while Seongwoo continues to focus solely on Woojin. For a second he wonders what they resemble from the outside looking in, child comfortably seated on his lap while Seongwoo coos and fusses at his side. Do they look like a couple? Like a family?

 

He’s still caught up in some daydream that he shoves aside violently when Seongwoo pays for the bill, excusing himself robotically to use the washroom and wash his hands. When he comes back, Seongwoo is standing near the entrance with Woojin propped on one hip, Daniel’s luggage by his side, “Ready to go?”

 

He nods silently, reaching out for his son and Seongwoo holds the door open for him, taking charge of his luggage instead in a manner that rankles Daniel but it’s not something worth picking a fight over and he hates fighting anyways, hates feeling like this, being angry all the time. They get to the platform with ten minutes to spare and Seongwoo steps back, sitting on a nearby bench, clearly trying to give Daniel some time alone with Woojin.

 

When the announcement that the train will be pulling up to the station in a minute is broadcasted, Seongwoo stands up again and Daniel puts Woojin down rather than hand him to Seongwoo, one hand still clasping Woojin’s tightly. Seongwoo wanders up to them, uncertainty painting his every step, earlier decisive bravado seemingly vanished into thin air.

 

“Thanks again for taking Woojinie,” Daniel says quietly, crouching so he’s face to face with his son, “Woojinie-ah, be good for you Uncle Seongwoo, okay? Daddy’s got to go now, I’ll see you in a week, okay baby?”

 

“Dadda go?”

 

“Yes, daddy has to go, be good, I love you baby,” he presses a kiss to those chubby cheeks he loves so much and gets a sloppy kiss in return.

 

Standing again, he’s greeted with that same conflicted look on Seongwoo’s face, “I’ll see you in a week then?”

 

“Yeah, a week,” Seongwoo seems to steady himself for a moment before smiling, small but real and Daniel breathes easier seeing it.

 

The other man hesitates for a moment before lifting his hand to Daniel’s collar, fiddling with it quickly before dropping his hands like they were scalded while Daniel stares at the overly familiar gesture. “Tie was crooked,” Seongwoo mumbles by way of explanation, not meeting his eyes as the train pulls into the station, “Take care and have a safe trip…..text me when you arrive safely?”

 

There’s something in the way that Seongwoo holds himself in the moment, how he seems to have shrunk into his skin, too small by half a size that makes Daniel want to reach out and fold him into his arms again like he used to so easily before. But he doesn’t; he doesn’t because he can’t trust himself to touch. Not when he was angry, not when his anger had already burnt to dust, to ashes, and not when he’s aching to feel safe and whole again.

 

Instead he bends to hug and kiss his son one last time before handing him off to Seongwoo with a nod to acknowledge his request, takes his luggage and boards his train, waving wildly to the three year old, blowing kisses until his lips feel numb. He probably looks silly to the other passengers but Daniel can’t bring himself to care. This was his son and he loved him and now he had to leave him for a week, he would blow as many kisses as he wanted and he’d cry too if it came to that.

 

 _Just seven days_ , he tells himself, _just seven days._

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Un’ca Se’woo?”

 

The pattering of tiny feet is a sound Seongwoo is fast getting used to and it’s barely even been a day yet. Daniel had texted just an hour ago to confirm he had arrived safely, having a brief video chat with Woojin before he had been called away for work. Seongwoo turns from where he had been cooking dinner to see Woojin having toddled into the open kitchen, stuffed animal being dragged on the floor behind him. “Yes Woojinie?”

 

“Pway?”

 

“Not right now, sweetie,” he crouches to ruffle Woojin’s hair, “Uncle Seongwoo needs to make dinner right now, how about after dinner?”

 

Woojin’s bottom lip juts out, “No pway?”

 

“Play later,” Seongwoo replies, “Can you be a big boy and help me set the table?”

 

“Table?”

 

“Yeah,” Seongwoo grabs the set of plastic children’s dish ware and cutlery that he had washed and left to dry on the rack and passes them to Woojin who drops his stuffed animal to hold it, “This is for Woojinie, can you go put this on the table so I can finishing making dinner?”

 

“Woojinie can!” the three year old announces, immediately making his way to the table and Seongwoo keeps half an eye on him as Woojin tiptoes to reach the table properly, straining to put each item on the table before clambering into a chair to arrange everything to his liking.

 

By the time the three year old is satisfied, Seongwoo is done cooking and he quickly dishes everything up. “Good job, Woojinie, thank you for helping!” he praises and the boy beams.

 

Thankfully, Woojin seems the like the stew that Seongwoo has made and he’s careful to cut up everything into bite-sized pieces. The stew cools in Woojin’s little bowl so it’s not too hot for him and there’s nothing big enough for him to choke on. Woojin seems determined to feed himself so Seongwoo lets him do so, stopping only to help clean his face periodically and to mop up the bits on the table before they end up on Woojin’s sleeves.

 

“All done!” Woojin announces at the end, looking up to grace Seongwoo with a gummy smile and Seongwoo feels his lips quirk in an answering smile automatically.

 

“Are you sure?” he asks, eyebrows raised and looking at the vegetables Woojin had left behind on his plate.

 

Woojin’s eyes dart down to the veggies briefly before he pushes the plate away as if they would disappear if they were far enough, “Yes.”

 

“I don’t think so, Woojinie-ah,” Seongwoo calls in a sing-song voice, “what’re all of those?”

 

“No,” the toddler’s voice instantly dips into a whine, bottom lip sticking out since he knew what Seongwoo was going to say.

 

“Ah, ah. Remember what Uncle Seongwoo said last time? Only big boys who eat their vegetables grow big and strong. Don’t you want to be big and strong like daddy?”

 

“Dadda eat,” Woojin frown and Seongwoo can’t help but laugh.

 

The three year old is definitely trying to look more stern and intimidating about this whole business but all it did was make his chubby little cheeks puff up while he trying to glare the vegetables into submission and Seongwoo was just so hopelessly endeared with this child. “Woojinie-ah,” he tries again, pulling the boy into his lap and pushing his hair back from his forehead soothingly, “Your daddy isn’t here right now, so Woojinie has to eat it and grow big and strong.”

 

“Un’ca Se’woo eat?”

 

“Uncle Seongwoo already ate aaalll his veggies,” Seongwoo shows Woojin his empty plate with comically wide eyes, “So now Woojinie has to eat them too.”

 

“Haf’ta?”

 

Seongwoo bites his lip at the crestfallen look and nods solemnly, “Have to.”

 

“Eat one?”

 

He laughs and picks up a piece of carrot with his chopsticks, “Eat _all_ , baby, all of them.”

 

Woojin opens his mouth petulantly but does eventually eat all his vegetables and Seongwoo counts that as a success even though getting Woojin to eat his vegetables took longer than the rest of the dinner twice over. He throws everything into the sink to wash later, maybe after the child was asleep, and then sets Woojin’s colouring book out next to his own sketch pad, the toddler colouring happily while Seongwoo whipped out a couple of rough designs and kept up light conversation.

 

He manages to get two and a half designs sketched out enough that he won’t forget his ideas before Woojin gets antsy and Seongwoo breaks out the few toys he keeps for when his sister visits with his nephew. It takes a bit of coaxing for Woojin to let go of the train set and take a bath, but a promise of bubbles has the boy agreeing eagerly.

 

Seongwoo runs a bath, making sure to keep the water shallow enough not to be a danger and then let Woojin smell both of the foaming bath mixtures he had. Woojin instantly decides that he likes the fruity one - grapefruit, Seongwoo thinks it is, he can’t remember and the label was written in French - so Seongwoo adds a generous dollop of that into the warm water. Woojin who is more than delighted by the size of Seongwoo’s bathtub squirms out of his clothes himself without any prompting from Seongwoo and tugs at Seongwoo’s pant leg until he lifts him into the bath. Carefully rolling up his pants to rest above his knees, he dips his feet in as well and sets about the task of washing Woojin while the boy splashed around happily, clutching the sole rubber duck that Seongwoo had to his chest tightly.

 

By the time he’s done successfully rinsing out the no-tears shampoo from Woojin’s hair, the boy is shoving the duck at Seongwoo rather insistantly and Seongwoo accepts it, “What have you got there buddy?”

 

“Ireumi!” Woojin chirps and Seongwoo tucks away a smile at the fact that the duck was literally named ‘name’.

 

He plays with Woojin in the water for a while though Woojin kicks up a fuss when Seongwoo has to remove him from the tub, the water having chilled to a tepid temperature that was just a tad too cold. “You can play again tomorrow, Woojinie,” he coaxes, bundling him up in one towel while he dries his hair with another, “Ireumi is tired now and needs to sleep, just like Woojinie needs to sleep.”

 

“Sleep Un’ca Se’woo?”

 

“Brush your teeth first,” Seongwoo hands him the toothbrush, “Do you know how?”

 

“Uh-huh! Up, down, up, down!” Woojinie snatches the toothbrush and demonstrates with single-minded determination, the look on his face so similar to Daniel’s when he’s hyper-focused on something that nostalgia sweeps over him before Seongwoo can fight it.

 

It leaves some visceral part of him aching and he shakes his head, there wasn’t any place for the past here, he was here to be a friend and put all this nonsense to rest at last.

 

If Woojin notices that his uncle is unusually quiet for the rest of the night, it doesn’t show. He refuses to sleep in the guest room though, running off into Seongwoo’s room and burying himself into the blankets with a giggle. Seeing no harm in being about to keep an eye on the boy, and it wasn’t as if a three year old took up much room on a queen-sized mattress. He reads two stories to Woojin at his insistence, the little boy curled up beside him contently and cuddled into his side, pointing out favourite parts and insisting Seongwoo do it ‘with the voices’.

 

They’re half-way done the second story when Woojin nods off completely, going from yawning uncontrollably to smooshing his face against Seongwoo’s arm, tiny fingers hooked into the fabric of his t-shirt. Seongwoo can’t help but cuddle him closer for a moment before he carefully extricates himself and starts on the dishes, popping his head in periodically to make sure the child was still sleeping. A quick shower later after clean up, Seongwoo shuts off the lights and pads back towards his bedroom, sketchpad and pencils in hand.

 

One earbud in and listening to a combination of instrumental tracks and Woojin’s soft snuffling breaths in the background, Seongwoo surprises himself with how much he’s able to get done before midnight strikes and he’s struggling against a yawn himself. _Must be getting old_ , he thinks, laughing to himself softly; were he just five years younger, he could burn that midnight oil and still walk around the next day like it was nothing.

 

Now though? Now he changes into his pajamas quietly and brushes his teeth before he slips into bed beside someone else’s child. _Not someone else’s child_ , his brain scolds as he clicks off the lights, _Daniel’s child. Daniel’s child that he had named Woojin_ and Seongwoo firmly shuts the door to that line of thought, refusing to go down that path.

 

 _Does it even matter whose child this was_? he scolds himself, _Woojin needed a temporary minder, you were just convenient, just doing what needed to be done._

 

Woojin curls closer into Seongwoo’s form, seeking warmth in his sleep. "Dadda?" he mumbles and Seongwoo’s brain just, stops.

 

"Shh, baby," he whispers, "Sleep, your daddy will be back soon."

 

Woojin mumbles something incoherent and clings to Seongwoo's arm instead, an act that has Seongwoo melting from the inside out. He wonders if this is even a fraction of what Daniel feels, when the most important thing in the room becomes the little boy laying next to him. The way that Woojin had so easily let Seongwoo into his life, calling him ‘uncle’ and climbing into his lap without hesitation, smiling so brightly at him, he wants to wonder at how quickly he’s gotten attached but really, was that ever a question? Such a sweet boy, adorable, cheerful, and bright - a son any parent would be proud of. Did he ever stand a chance?

 

 _It doesn’t matter whose son it is_ , he tells himself as he drifts off into sleep, the scent of children’s shampoo and baby oil in his nose, and Woojin’s small form radiating heat.

 

And yet it made all the difference.

 


	8. VIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who might has missed it, here's a little something [extra](https://twitter.com/AStrangeDaze/status/992437915992121344) between last chapter and now.

“Alright! You can all get started and if you have questions, raise your hand and Miss Jeon or myself will come help, okay?”

 

Woojin blinks as his classmates call out loud ‘okays’. He looks at the piece of paper Miss Lee had given him and then at the pretty pictures and letters she had drawn on the blackboard. He stares at the paper in front of him again with a frown, all his classmates had grabbed the best crayons and started drawing but he didn’t know what to do.

 

He was about to stand up when he remembered Miss Lee said to raise his hand if he needed help and slowly, he stuck his hand up, craning his head from side to side, looking to see if one of the teachers would come.

 

Miss Jeon is the one who sees his hand first and she walks over to his side, crouching down with a nice smile like always. She’s wearing a pretty pink dress today and she smells a bit like candy, and Woojin decides he likes that; he wished everything smelled like candy. “What’s wrong Woojin?” she asks, “Why aren’t you making your card? Do you need help?”

 

“Miss Jeon……” Woojin bites his lip, trying to think of how to ask his question.

 

“Yes?”

 

“What’sa momma?”

 

Miss Jeon goes very still and her face starts to get very red as she opens and closes her mouth several times, almost the colour of the apples samchon was always insisting were good for him.

 

“Miss Jeon?”

 

“I…” she takes big breathes like Woojin has to sometimes if he’s getting too upset, “has your father talked to you about your…your momma?”

 

Woojin frowns and tilts his head in question, “Woojinie momma?”

 

“Oh,” Miss Jeon blinks really quickly, “I think you’ll have to ask your father, Woojinie, mothers are…mothers are different for everyone. I don’t think I could tell you.”

 

“Oh,” Woojin pouts, wanting to know what a momma was, “but dadda no here.”

 

“Ah, that’s right,” Miss Jeon stands quickly, looking around as if she was lost and trying to find someone, “your father isn’t here this week. Who’s taking care of you right now, Woojin? Is it your samchon?”

 

Woojin shakes his head, “No samchon, Woojinie stay Un’ca Se’woo.”

 

“A new uncle?” Miss Jeon gave him another smile and Woojin smiled back because that was only polite, “My goodness, I don’t think I’ll ever remember them all. Alright, why don’t you draw something you like, Woojin-ah?”

 

“Kay,” Woojin agreed, nodding.

 

Drawing something he liked, he could do that, that was easy! Woojin liked a lot of things, like his dadda, and his uncles, and his toys. He liked ice-cream and the ‘wobbles’ Uncle Seongwoo shared with him before, and he liked Seonho hyung’s puppy.

 

Frowning at the paper, Woojin gripped a fistful of crayons in his hand; could he fit all those things on the paper? This was going to be harder than he thought! And he still didn’t know what a momma was.

 

* * *

  

“Mr. Ong?”

 

Seongwoo glances over to see a timid looking young woman clad in a pink dress just a shade too pale to flatter her complexion. He offers her his most comforting smile, seeing as she must be one of Woojin’s teachers, “Yes, Miss? Can I help you?”

 

“I was told by Woojin and Principal Kim that you’re a friend of Mr. Kang’s who is watching Woojin while he’s away on a business trip?”

 

Seongwoo felt the corners of his lips quirk downwards minutely before he forced them back up, “Yes, I am. Ong Seongwoo, at your service; am I right to assume you are one of Woojinie’s teachers, Miss?”

 

“Ah,” she flushed, seeming a bit flustered, “Yes, sorry, my name is Jeon Mina, one of Woojin’s teachers. I was hoping I could speak with you for a moment before you picked up Woojin? I would have preferred to discuss this with Mr. Kang but he’s out of town and, well, it’s likely to come up sooner rather than later.”

 

Seongwoo nodded and followed her into the small office at her gesture. The young woman fidgets under his patient gaze before sighing gustily. “Well, Mr. Ong, it’s like this. Today we were to make cards and Woojin raised his hand, looking rather confused. When I went to help him, he hadn’t started his card and well,” here she bites her lips and then looks up at him, a jitter of nerves, hesitation clear in her eyes, “Woojin wanted to know what a mother was.”

 

Seongwoo feels like the world has screeched to a halt, like someone had punched the air out of his lungs, and he closes his eyes for a moment, trying to regain his bearing, to steady his feet.

 

Of course. Of course Woojin wouldn’t understand, and of course Daniel hadn’t had a chance to explain anything to him. The boy was three, even if anyone explained it to him now, Seongwoo doubts he would understand the situation in its entirety.

 

This was not what Seongwoo had been expecting when he agreed to take Woojin for a week. He had expected whining and some tantrums, and those he had got and weathered as best as he could. Woojin had been alright for the first day without Daniel, but two days past and he had gotten cranky and mopey. During the days he was fine so long as Seongwoo kept him busy, and with school he had plenty to be distracted with. But at nights, he cried for his father when it was close to bed time and refused to sleep anywhere that wasn’t Seongwoo’s bed, begging for Seongwoo to call Daniel again because he wanted to see his father’s face. Daniel obliged as much as he was able to but Seongwoo could tell from the harried look on his face that the other was run ragged by his meetings and the need to close the deal; the knowledge that his son was so obviously missing him was only adding another layer to his misery and stress.

 

Woojin clung fiercely to Seongwoo in the early mornings, looking near tears when they had to separate, as if he was terrified Seongwoo would disappear suddenly no matter how much he promised to be back soon, though usually he calmed and seemed happy as a clam when it was time for Seongwoo to pick him up.

 

Seeing the worried look on the young Miss Jeon Mina’s face, Seongwoo forced a smile, “I’ll speak with his father and explain things to Woojinie as best as I can, thank you for letting me know. I hope no one gave Woojin any trouble?”

 

“No,”Miss Jeon shook her head and Seongwoo smiles for real this time.

 

“That’s good to hear,” he sketched a bow and made for the door, dismissing himself, suddenly needing to check Woojin over with his own eyes just to be sure he was alright, “I’ll collect Woojin now, Miss Jeon. Thank you again for looking out for our Woojinie.”

 

“Not a problem at all, Woojin is always a pleasure to teach.”

 

Seongwoo nods at her again and then hurries towards Woojin’s classroom, flashing smiles at a couple of the parents who have started to recognize him after the past four days. Half of Woojin’s class is gone by now and he spots the boy in question happily chattering away with another little boy, playing with blocks, building what Seongwoo can only assume is a castle of some sort.

 

“Woojinie-ah,” he calls out and the boy’s head whips around, dropping the blocks immediately when he sees who is it and rocketing to his feet.

 

“Un’ca Se’woo!” he screeches before barrelling into Seongwoo’s legs, immediately trying to climb up them as Seongwoo laughs and hefted him up into his arms.

 

“Hey baby, how was your day? Did you have fun?”

 

Woojin’s answer are wet kisses against Seongwoo’s cheek while small hands hold his face and happy giggles, and Seongwoo can’t help but grin, pressing his own kisses to the laughing child’s chubby cheeks. “I’ll take that as a yes then, ready to go home?”

 

“Yeah!”

 

“Alright, do you need to say goodbye to your friend?”

 

Woojin flings himself backwards with the confidence of a child who has never been dropped before until he’s hanging upside down in Seongwoo’s arms as the man in question hurries to tighten his grip and support the three year old’s back with his other hand, “Buh-bye!”

 

“Bye!” his friend shouts back, waving wildly as he sends the block he had been holding flying into wall.

 

Seongwoo laughs as Woojin rights himself, face bright red from the exertion, “Where’s your bag Woojinie?”

 

“There!” he points at the cubby and Seongwoo locates the one with Woojin’s name on it quickly.

 

Seongwoo pulls it out and then sets the boy on his feet, handing him his jacket that Woojin insists on putting on himself. He makes quick eye contact with Miss Lee who nods from her spot across the room and mimes that all Woojin’s stuff had already been packed inside, and Seongwoo shoots her a thumbs up back with a nod in thanks.

 

“All set?”

 

Woojin looks up at Seongwoo with wide eyes, one arm stuck awkwardly in the sleeve of his jacket and pouts. “Help pwease?”

 

“Of course,” Seongwoo bends to help Woojin straighten out his sleeve and fit his arm through, “there we go!”

 

“Bag?”

 

“You want to hold your bag?”

 

“Yes, Woojinie’s bag!”

 

“Aright,” Seongwoo hands it over and watches, bemused, as Woojin swings the straps over his shoulders but sits the bag itself on his head, “Is that how backpacks work?”

 

“Uh-huh!”

 

“Okay then, let’s go, say good-bye to your teacher.”

 

“Bye bye Miss Lee!”

 

Miss Lee waves back with a smile, “Goodbye Woojin, I’ll see you next week.”

 

Seongwoo holds his hand out and Woojin quickly grabs his fingers, grinning up at Seongwoo with his bag still on his head. “What do you want for dinner, Woojinie?” Seongwoo asks as they head towards his car.

 

“Pizza!” the three year old crows and Seongwoo can’t help but laugh; in truth, he feels that he’s been laughing more in the past week than he has in months.

 

“We’re having pizza tomorrow,” Seongwoo reminds the toddler, “Why don’t we have something else tonight?”

 

“Two pizza is okay,” Woojin tells him with a serious look on his face.

 

“If you have too much pizza, you’ll turn into a pizza monster,” Seongwoo cautions him, “And then your daddy isn’t going to know who you are when he’s back!”

 

Woojin gasps, “No know Woojinie?”

 

“Not if you’re a pizza monster,” Seongwoo confirms, unlocking his car and buckling Woojin into the car seat with practised motions, “So, what do you want that’s not pizza?”

 

“Wobbles?” the little boy proposes and Seongwoo shoots him a look in the rearview mirror that has him pouting.

 

“Spa-petti?”

 

“Spaghetti sounds good,” Seongwoo agrees as he tries to do a mental recall of the contents of his fridge, “with meatballs?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Alright, spaghetti and meatballs it is!”

 

* * *

 

Seongwoo had just finished cleaning all the spaghetti sauce off Woojin’s face when the three year old suddenly perked up and squirmed off his seat, running for his backpack.

 

“Woojinie?”

 

“I’s gots pichur to show Un’ca Se’woo!”

 

He scampers back with a piece of paper flapping behind him, shoving it at Seongwoo with an expectant look and Seongwoo accepts it with a smile, unfolding the drawing to see colourful stick figures with big smiles, a gigantic ice-cream cone and a puppy that was bigger than anything else on the page, all framed by a large heart.

 

“Oh wow, Woojinie, you’re getting to be a real artist, aren’t you?” Seongwoo praised, “Is this for your daddy when he gets home?”

 

“Miss Lee say-ed draw for momma,” Woojin lisps out with wide inquiring eyes, “But Woojinie no know what’sa momma.”

 

“Ah,” Seongwoo nods, wracking his brain, he had almost forgotten about this what with spending the last half hour trying to make sure Woojin’s dinner ended up in his mouth and not on his shirt - they didn’t made child’s bibs nearly big enough for the job they needed to do though it would probably be easier to just give kids a raincoat, “Has daddy talked to Woojinie about momma?”

 

“No,” Woojin shakes his head, blinking before suddenly scrambling into Seongwoo’s lap, deciding he much preferred cuddling to being in his own chair like a big boy, “What’sat?”

 

“It’s a who, not a what,” Seongwoo corrects gently, arms coming to cradle Woojin’s smaller form automatically, hoping to God he doesn't screw this up, “Well, you know how your daddy takes care of and love Woojinie the most?”

 

“Yeeeessss.”

 

“Well, a mommy is just like a daddy, except she’s a girl.”

 

“Girl dadda?”

 

“Yes,” Seongwoo nods, hoping that Woojin actually understood what he was saying and didn’t just think there was a female version of Daniel somewhere.

 

“Who Woojinie momma?”

 

“I’m not sure baby,” Seongwoo says softly, brushing Woojin’s hair back rhythmically, “Not everyone has a mommy and a daddy. Some people have both and some people only have one, some people might even have more than two!”

 

Woojin’s brow furrows in confusion as he turns Seongwoo’s words over in his head, “More? Dat no fair!”

 

“Mmmm maybe,” Seongwoo pulls him closer before hefting the child up and heading to the bathroom, figuring a bath now wouldn’t hurt because he’s pretty sure there’s spaghetti sauce in Woojin’s hair _and_ in his own hair despite his best efforts, “But your daddy loves you enough for a daddy and a mommy.”

 

“Lots?”

 

“The most.”

 

“More than din’oser?”

 

“More than the biggest dinosaur is big,” Seongwoo says solemnly and Woojin gasps.

 

“That’sa lots!”

 

“It is,” Seongwoo nods, running the water in his bathtub and pouring in Woojin’s favourite bubbles.

 

“Woojinie love dadda like din’oser too,” Woojin declares as he shimmies out of his clothes, already reaching for Ireumi the Duck, holding up his arms for Seongwoo to lift him into the tub.

 

“I’m sure he’d love to know that,” Seongwoo lowers Woojin into the water after checking the temperature, “Why don’t you tell him after your bath?”

 

“Kay!” Woojin shouts even as he turns all his attention to his game with Ireumi while Seongwoo watches on fondly, thinking wistfully of times in his youth when things were much simpler. when the only squabble with love was who loved more in the biggest shape possible.

 

* * *

 

 The phone rings exactly at seven pm and Daniel drops the chopsticks that came with his take out to accept the video call from Seongwoo, eager to see Woojin’s sweet face. Seongwoo sent him short video clips and pictures of Woojin regularly, as well as notes of his latest activities and progress, but it was hardly enough. Daniel wanted nothing more than for this deal to close so he could run all the way back to Seoul and hold his son.

 

This was the longest he’s ever been apart from Woojin since his birth and if he hadn’t been buried alive in work most of the time he was here, Daniel is certain he would have driven himself insane worrying about Woojin. Every second he had to slow down, all that was on his mind was whether Woojin was eating or sleeping well, whether he was happy, whether he missed Daniel as much as Daniel missed him, whether he was comfortable at Seongwoo’s. Was he scared? Did he think Daniel had left him forever?

 

It seems that way sometimes with how Woojin whines and cries when Daniel has to end the call and get back to work. He always winces and shoots apologetic looks at Seongwoo who is left to deal with a cranky and upset toddler, whispering a thousand apologies no matter how much the older man insists it’s fine, that it’s expected and he can handle it. Daniel wonders what magic powers Seongwoo has that allows him to settle Woojin for the night, knowing firsthand how impossible Woojin can be when he’s feeling contrary, and yet every night Seongwoo will send one last text to Daniel with a picture of Woojin snoozing away on his bed. Sometimes for a second, just a second, Daniel dreams about how much _easier_ things would be if Seongwoo was always there to put Woojin to bed when he was cranky. It’s not a thought he lets himself dwell on but it’s an impossibly attractive dream.

 

Tonight, instead of Woojin’s happy face filling the other side of the screen, camera smooshed agains an over-eager nose, the first thing Daniel sees is Seongwoo’s face. The bags under his eyes are just a little darker than Daniel remembers them to be and he frowns, wondering how much sleep Seongwoo has been losing taking care of Woojin, of how much he’s had to shift his work schedule to more nocturnal hours so he can dedicate time to a demanding three year old.

 

“Hey,” Seongwoo’s voice is low and soothing, a welcome contrast to the demanding tone of the client Daniel has been dealing with all day, “you good to talk?”

 

“Yeah,” he sets his phone down so it’s propped up against an empty soup container, “I’ve got half an hour or so.”

 

“Good, um…how was work?”

 

“Busy,” Daniel sighs, wincing internally at how awkward small talk has gotten between them, “I have to fix everything to the client’s satisfaction and present the final contract to them tomorrow so he can sign this and I can finally come home.”

 

“Mmm, sounds tough, but I’m sure you can do it. Listen, you know it’s Mother’s Day tomorrow, right?”

 

“Mhmm.”

 

“Well,” Seongwoo’s sigh is static through the receiver, “his class was making Mother’s Day cards and…”

 

“And?” Daniel asks, feeling dread build in his stomach at the expression on Seongwoo’s face.

 

“Woojinie asked what a mother is.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah….I….talked to him a bit? I tried explaining but just, heads up, he might ask you about that today. And I know he’s young but you’ll probably have to….explain things to him soon.”

 

“Yeah,” Daniel swallows hard, “Yeah, I will. Thanks for, uh.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Seongwoo cuts him off before the moment gets more awkward, “I’m going to hand the phone to Woojin now, okay? Since you don’t have much time.”

 

“Y-yeah, sure, thanks hyung.”

 

“No problem, Woojinie! Come here baby, daddy’s on the phone!”

 

For a second Daniel feels his breath stutter. It’s the most inappropriate thing to be caught up on when he should be worrying about the impending ‘this is why you don’t have a mom’ talk with his three year old, but the easy manner that Seongwoo calls Woojin ‘baby’, the way he slips sometimes and refers to Daniel as ‘daddy’ instead of ‘ _your_ daddy” to Woojin, as if he’s part of their little family unit. It steals Daniel’s breath away at the more inconvenient times and Daniel knows, he knows he’s reading into things too much, he _knows_ he’s making mountains out of molehills-

 

“Dadda!”

 

Then Woojin’s face is filling up the screen and there’s no more time to dwell on this, no time for wishful thinking or the taste of his own personal failure. “Hi baby, how was your day?”

 

“Good! Woojinie drewed pichur, wan’ see?”

 

“Of course I do!”

 

For seconds all he can see is black and he hears Seongwoo’s laugh in the background. “Woojinie-ah, your daddy can’t see when you hold it that close, scoot back a bit,” he hears and there’s a bit of shuffling before Daniel can a very zoomed in section of a stickman.

 

“Oh wow! You’re getting so good at this Woojinie! My baby is going to be an artist when he grows up! Do you want to be an artist, Woojinie?”

 

“Nooooo.”

 

“What do you want to be then?”

 

“A dragon! RAAAAAWRRRR!” Woojin ‘roars’ into the phone as long as he can as he flaps his arms, “I’mma dragon!”

 

Daniel laughs and roars back, the rest of his half-hour break passes by quickly, too quickly as always. _Just two more days_ , Daniel reminds himself, _two more days and you’ll be back with Woojin, you can do this Kang Daniel_.

 

“Dadda?”

 

“Yes baby?”

 

“Who momma?” the little boy finally asks the dreaded question and Daniel sucks in a breath.

 

“D-did your Uncle Seongwoo tell you who mommy is?”

 

“Uh-huh! Momma ‘sa girl dadda!”

 

Daniel chokes a little but nods, “Yes, a girl daddy. Ah, well Woojinie, you know how…how daddy had to leave for a bit?”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“Well sometimes mommies and daddies have to leave, but sometimes they don’t come back.”

 

Woojin looks at him with a frown, “Like dadda?”

 

“No, no!” Daniel hurries to say, “Not like daddy, daddy’s coming back soon, remember? Daddy promised.”

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

“So daddy’s coming back and daddy will never ever _not_ come back, okay?”

 

“Kay.”

 

“Right. So, daddy’s coming back but mommy couldn’t come back.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because…because,” Daniel flounders for a reason that would make sense to a three year old, “Because there wasn’t enough room for all your uncles.”

 

“Un’ca?”

 

“Yes,” Daniel nods, “Woojinie has lots and lots of uncles, right?”

 

“Yeah!”

 

“Well, momma had to go so all your uncles could stay.”

 

“Oh…..momma go?”

 

“Yes, your mommy had to go, but Woojinie has all his uncles instead, right?”

 

“Mmhmm!”

 

“And they all love you as much as a mommy would.”

 

“Un’ca love Woojinie like din’oser?”

 

“Uh….”

 

“He means ‘a lot’,” Seongwoo whispers and Daniel wonders how this got added to Woojin’s vocabulary but goes along with it quickly.

 

“Yes, your uncles love you like a dinosaur.”

 

“Un’ca Se’woo too?”

 

“…yes, I’m sure your Uncle Seongwoo loves you a lot.”

 

“Kay! Dadda?”

 

“Yes Woojinie?” Daniel prompts while glancing at the clock in the hotel room with pursed lips.

 

“Woojinie love dadda like big big din’oser!”

 

He smiles, heart warm and feeling like he could take on the world, “Daddy loves Woojinie like the biggest dinosaur too.”

 

The calls ends with less fanfare today, with Daniel promising Woojin he would be home in ‘two sleeps’. His last view of Woojin is of his son clinging to Seongwoo’s side like a limpet, burrowing under the man’s arm and rubbing his face into the soft material of his shirt as the man in question pets the child’s hair gently. He aches to reach through the screen and be able to touch, to hold him close, to crawl under that comforter with his son and breathe in the scent of children's shampoo and citrus.

 

 _Two more sleeps_ , he tells himself, opening his laptop again, _just two more sleeps._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pooped guys, leave me a comment to give me strength to power through 9 consecutive work days (2 more to go!) if you have a moment to spare.
> 
> Or just remind me it's a terrible idea trying to write from the perspective of a three year old the next time I get it into my head that's a great idea, thanks <3


	9. IX

“Un’ca Se’woo, where we go?” Woojin asks, blinking large doe eyes up at him as he toddles beside Seongwoo, hand fisted tightly in his jacket as they head towards the escalators.

 

“We’re going to meet someone very important to Uncle Seongwoo for lunch,” Seongwoo smiles at Woojin, “Two someones really. But first we have to go pick something up.”

 

“Pick up?” the three year old parrots.

 

“Yup,” Seongwoo steers them through the doors of a flower shop, flashing a smile at the florist behind the counter, “Hello, I have an order to pick up under the name of Ong Seongwoo?”

 

“Welcome! Sorry, I’ll be right with you,” the harried looking woman greets them, bending over a bouquet on her work table and Woojin scampers over curious about everything and unafraid of strangers as always.

 

“What you doing?” Woojin tugs on the florist’s pants, trying to peer over the table while Seongwoo hurries after to scoop the toddler back into his arms.

 

“Woojinie-ah,” Seongwoo sighs, not quite having the heart to scold the toddler but knowing he ought to anyways, “What did we say about running off?”

 

“No run?”

 

“Yes, no running off, stay here with me and don’t bother the nice lady okay? She’s working hard to make the flowers pretty.”

 

“Okay!” Woojin sings, pitching himself forward in Seongwoo’s arms instead to observe the florist and Seongwoo knows the only reason he’s not squirming to get down is because he can see better from up here.

 

“I’m sorry about that,” he apologizes to the florist, “He’s a curious one, I’ll keep him out of your way.”

 

The florist just laughed, putting the finishing touches on her work quickly, stopping to wave at Woojin who waves back delightedly. “It’s not a problem at all, your son is adorable. Are you excited to pick up flowers for mom?” she directs the last part to Woojin who blinks back at her, confused.

 

“Ah,” Seongwoo colours, a little flustered, “He’s not my son, I’m just watching him for a friend. The flowers are for my sister.”

 

“Oh! I’m sorry, you just looked so natural with him,” the woman hides a laugh behind her hands, “Well, you’ll certainly be a great father one day if you don’t have any kids of your own already. Let me just go grab your order.”

 

“Thanks,” Seongwoo fidgets a little, hefting Woojin a bit higher to rest more comfortably against his hip.

 

The florist comes back after a minute with a lovely bouquet wrapped in different shades of purple. “That’s gorgeous, thank you,” Seongwoo praises, pulling out his wallet to pay with a little difficulty since Woojin refused to be put down, clinging to his neck.

 

“Thank you for your patronage,” the lady beamed, accepting his credit card and then setting the machine on the counter in front of him, “Did you want a message card to go with the bouquet?”

 

“Sure, um, do you might just helping me write ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ on it? My hands are a little full.”

 

“Of course,” she smiles at them warmly, holding out two different designs, “Which one do you prefer?”

 

“Woojinie, you want to help me pick?” Seongwoo murmurs to the three year old who nods excitedly, face scrunching up in serious consideration before pointing to the pink card.

 

“That!”

 

“Alright, we’ll take that one then,” Seongwoo agrees and the florist is quick to pen the message and secure it to the bouquet.

 

“Thank you, please come again!” she laughs again when Woojin waves wildly.

 

“Woojinie-ah!” Seongwoo struggles to balance the bouquet and the wiggling child, “Uncle Seongwoo is going to drop the flowers if you don’t stay still. Do you want to walk instead?”

 

“No!” Woojin protests immediately, throwing his arms back around Seongwoo’s neck and clinging for dear life, nuzzling his face against Seongwoo’s shoulder, “No walk!”

 

Seongwoo bites back a sigh; Woojin was usually eager to explore the world around him and needed to constantly be chased after when he saw something interesting and pulled away, but when he got into a clingy and particularly affectionate mood, Seongwoo knew his arms were going to pay for it the next day.

 

“Alright then, but you have to keep still okay?” he grunts, readjusting the child with some difficulty, “Or I’m going to drop the present and the flowers don’t be pretty anymore.”

 

“Kaay,” Woojin grins, pillowing his head on Seongwoo’s chest comfortably and settling in for the ride.

 

Seongwoo heads towards the restaurant, feeling his arms already starting to ache a little; it was going to be a long day.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Samchon!”

 

By the time Seongwoo registers that overeager greeting, his nephew had already barrelled into his legs, chattering a mile a minute, proving once again that hyperactive children could in fact travel faster than the speed of sound. He barrages Seongwoo with questions before abruptly falling silent, eyes wide as he pointed at Woojin who was still perched on Seongwoo’s hip staring back just as curiously.

 

“Samchon, who’s that?” the five year old whispers, or what he thinks is whispering, shaking Seongwoo’s leg and he can’t help but laugh.

 

He looks up to see his sister watching with a smile, clearly more than happy to have someone else entertain her hyperactive son for a moment, though she too is eyeing Woojin with a speculative gleam in her eyes. Their eyes meet and her lips twist in the same way he knows his does when he’s displeased about something, an expression that promises they’ll be having words afterwards. Well, he can deal with his sister later, right now he had an increasingly demanding “Guanlin-ah,” Seongwoo bends down so that Woojin and Guanlin are on the same level, “This is Woojin, he’s one of my friend’s sons. Woojinie, this is Guanlin, he’s my nephew.”

 

“Whazzat?” Woojin asks, warring between making a new friend and clinging to Seongwoo even more tightly, not quite liking this new hyung who called _his_ Uncle Seongwoo, samchon.

 

“Do you see that pretty lady over there?” Seongwoo asks, raising his voice so his sister hears and she only rolls her eyes in response to the blatant flattery, “That’s my sister and Guanlin’s mother, that makes me his uncle.”

 

“Oh,” Woojin nods; he understood uncles, he had lots of those.

 

“Samchon,” Guanlin whines immediately, pulling on Seongwoo’s arm petulantly, “You’re supposed to play with me, not this _baby_.”

 

“I not a baby!” Woojin protests immediately, glaring with all the force of a wet kitten.

 

“Yeah you are,” Guanlin sings, wide grin on his face, “You’re just a baby, you can’t even talk good.”

 

“Can too!” Woojin stomps one of his feet, pulling away from Seongwoo as he walks over to stare up at Guanlin who only stood on his tiptoes and made a show of how much taller he was.

 

“Guanlin-ah, be nice please,” with a sigh, Seongwoo herds the two squabbling kids over the the table, handing his sister the bouquet, “Happy Mother’s day, noona.”

 

“Why thank you,” Sua accepts the flowers happily, touching the wrapping paper briefly as she propped it up carefully in a corner of the table against the wall, “How thoughtful of you, you didn’t have to.”

 

Seongwoo snorts, “You’d kill me if I showed up here empty handed, don’t pretend to be all gracious, noona.”

 

He scoops Woojin up, separating the children and plops him into the highchair next to his own seat. Guanlin scrambles into his own seat and sits on top of the booster chair looking mighty pleased at himself, pointing at the highchair Woojin was in an declaring loudly, “See! Those are _baby_ chairs. You sit in one so you’re a _baby_.”

 

“O-kay!” Seongwoo cuts off the argument before it can build, “Aren’t you boys hungry? Let’s order food first. Woojinie, what kind of pizza do you want?”

 

One look at the boys tells Seongwoo this little fight wasn’t going to be over any time soon, but hopefully food would distract them enough that they would forget it.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lunch ends with little fanfare and a newfound grudge between Woojin and Guanlin, but thankfully no food being flung in a fit of childish tantrums. Guanlin, it seems, thinks teasing Woojin is absolutely hilarious, driven in part by his own amusement at how Woojin gets worked up and in part by his own need to compete for Seongwoo's attention. Woojin thinks Guanlin is a 'big meanie' and seems to dislike the fact that Guanlin insists, articulating as well as a five year old could hope to, that he has a better claim to Seongwoo because "Samchon is  _actually_  my uncle".

Seongwoo had been hoping the two of them could be friends with how happy and open a child Woojin is, and how sweet Guanlin usually is by nature. He had not counted on himself being a point of contention between them, which in retrospect was probably naïve of him if the looks his sister kept shooting him meant anything at all.

With Sua's husband often overseas, Seongwoo had been heavily involved with helping out and babysitting Guanlin, and his nephew wasn't used to not having his complete attention when he saw Seongwoo. He could only imagine that Woojin as an only child and the sole focus of attention from all his uncles would feel similarly neglected now that there was someone else competing for the attention he was used to monopolizing. 

 

The first sign of trouble rising again was when they sat down at the ice-cream parlor and Guanlin slipped out of his seat after scarfing his treat down, climbing into Seongwoo’s lap with a sweet smile, giving him a big hug and insisting that he “missed his samchon very very much.” It melted Seongwoo’s heart and he hadn’t hesitated to hug his nephew back, pressing a kiss to his forehead and telling Guanlin he had missed him too. Except this immediately set Woojin off and the three year old had squirmed out of his seat and into Seongwoo’s, trying his hardest to shove Guanlin out of ‘his spot’. Sua wordlessly reaching out to hold Seongwoo’s ice-cream cone for him while giving him no help otherwise in dealing with the squabbling children in his lap.

 

“Noona,” Seongwoo dodges a tiny fist, “Hey! No hitting! Noona, I could use a little help here.”

 

Sua just smiles at him, taking a deliberate bite out of _his_ ice-cream, smacking her lips in delight as he tried to make them hug each other and apologize, “Think of this as practice for fatherhood.”

 

“I get plenty of practise already from looking after Guanlin for you,” he complained.

 

“For a second child then,” Sua shrugs, eating her ice-cream (and his) with relish, “It’s Mother’s Day, I’m supposed to be pampered today, do your job oh brother of mine.”

 

“Please tell me you’re not thinking of having another one already,” Seongwoo looks at the two children he’s forcefully squished into a huge in his lap, Guanlin turning to periodically give ‘the baby’ smooches with a wide grin while the toddler whined and tried to pull away, “I think you have your hands plenty full with this one already.”

 

“My hands are quite empty right now,” his sister grins, finishing her cone before standing up and dusting the crumbs off her dress and picking her bouquet up again, “Come on boys! Let’s go to the park!”

 

Guanlin cheers and wiggles until Seongwoo lets go, running over to grab his mother’s outstretched hand and chattering a mile a minute about all the things he wanted to do at the park, while Woojin turned and buried his face in Seongwoo’s neck with a whine, “Woojinie no like Linlin. Go home?”

 

“Don’t you want to go to the park, baby?” Seongwoo soothes, carding his hand through thick locks and kissing the top of Woojin’s head, “We can go on the swings and the see-saw, race down the slides. I promise Guanlinie can be nice, he’s just not used to sharing his samchon.”

 

“Not a baby,” Woojin grumbles and Seongwoo stands carefully, child carried in tired arms that are going to ache as much as his lower back is already protesting, wondering if he’ll ever be able to reclaim his ice-cream from his sister.

 

“You don’t want me calling you baby anymore, Woojinie?”

 

The child was silent for moment before shrugging, “Woojinie dadda’s baby, no Linlin.”

 

“Alright,” Seongwoo laughed, heading for the door and jogging after his sister and nephew, “To the park for a bit then, before we go home?”

 

“…..kay.”

 

* * *

 

“So,” Sua’s voice is delibteraly light as they sat on a bench and watched the boys run around the park, screeching with laughter now that Guanlin finally promised to stop calling Woojin a baby, “Daniel’s boy.”

 

“Noona,” Seongwoo sighs, “Do we have to do this now?”

 

“Yes now,” his sister insists, still not looking at him but picking at her skirt in a way that told Seongwoo she was beyond agitated, “What exactly do you think you’re doing here?”

 

“Helping out a friend?”

 

That has her whirling around, fire blazing in warm brown eyes, “He is not your _friend_ , Seongwoo, he’s your _ex._ Why on earth are you watching his kid? Why are you even talking to him again?”

 

“He needed help!” he protests, trying to keep his tone even and failing, “What was I supposed to do? Leave his kid without a minder for a week?”

 

“Yes!” Sua hisses, “That is exactly what you were supposed to do, my god Seongwoo, this is not your place! He’s _clearly_ survived for years without you, that man could have found someone else to watch his kid! Why is he even coming to you?"

 

"He had no other choice! The others were busy, Minhyun can't-"

 

"Because he's trying to keep Jonghyun alive, yes, I know, his sister told me," Sua rolls her eyes, "Why didn't you just swap then? You could have prodded Jonghyun into eating and sleeping and he could have taken the kid!"

 

"It's not that simple, you're just- Daniel just looked for the best option for Woojin in a limited time."

 

"You mean his last option," Sua points out ruthlessly, "He's made it clear before where he stands."

 

"Now you're just being difficult because you don't like him!"

  

"Of course I don't like him!" she hissed, "It's more than dislike, he hurt you! I watched what he did to you, Seongwoo-ah, I had to watch my brother put some asshole's wellbeing before his own while he stumbled around like a good little martyr, half-alive for months. Meanwhile that Kang boy moves on with life and goes around partying and knocking up girls left and right. So now he has to deal with the consequences of it, but you! Why are you getting yourself involved again? Sticking your head into situations it has no place being in at all?”

 

“I am trying to-”

 

“Do _not_ tell me you’re trying to be ‘a good person’ or some crap like that, Ong Seongwoo, I’m your sister not a fool,” Sua jabbed a finger into his chest hard, “That man _left_ you! He left you like you were nothing, like you didn’t make plans to get married in a country where it was legal. This is not how you decide to be a good person -  _why have you still not let him go?_ ”

 

“I let him go! I let him go years ago, noona, you’re overthinking things,” Seongwoo insisted, throwing his hands up in the air.

 

“I’m not overthinking anything, you’re just being an idiot,” she smacked him repeatedly in the chest as if the blows would help her point get through to him, “You’re going to get attached, actually, forget going to, you already are!”

 

“I’m not-”

 

“You are,” Sua cut him off.

 

“You look at that child with your eyes all soft and I know you’re thinking of things you shouldn’t be. You’re not his family, Seongwoo-ah,” just like ripping off a bandage, cruel and to the point, how like his sister to point out the bitter truths, “Don’t delude yourself into thinking you are.”

 

“I know that,” he swallows hard, “I know that.”

 

“Do you? Do you really?” Sua raises an eyebrow mockingly, “Let’s say you do, let’s say that you actually know that what you’re doing is absolute folly, that you’re just digging your own grave. Let’s say you do the smart thing after this ill-advised week and stop intruding on their lives. But does that child know that?”

 

“What?” Seongwoo croaks.

 

“The child,” she gestures at Woojin who is giggling madly, kicking his tiny legs in the air with glee as Guanlin jumps up and down on his side of the see-saw, “Does he know you’re only here temporarily? Does he understand you’re only here for a little while? Because that’s cruel, Seongwoo-ah, he’s latched on to you, a blind man could see it.”

 

“Then what do you want me to do?!” he glared, “You say I shouldn’t stay, but I can’t leave without hurting Woojinie. There is no winning here!”

 

“Which is why you should have never been here in the first place!” Sua hisses viciously, “I’m trying to make you see that there’s more at stake here than you and an old flame!There is an innocent child who’s going to get caught in the middle of this if whatever is going on between you and that Kang boy goes wrong. There’s no room for games here, you can’t push and pull with a three year old as collateral damage. So back off, brother, or better yet just cut ties completely. Children can bounce back, he’ll forget you soon enough; better now than later.”

 

Seongwoo sits on the bench surrounded by the sound of little feet running about, by the screech of the metal chains of the swings, by the delighted laughter of children and hates his sister for wrenching up every ugly piece of reality she could get her hands on and shoving it in his face. Wants to scream that he’s not doing anything _wrong_ , that he doesn’t want to fade out of Woojin’s life, doesn’t want to be forgotten.

 

But deep down he knows she’s right, remembers the quiet terror that filled Woojin that time Daniel had lost his temper and yelled at Seongwoo. Remembers how he couldn’t help but goad Daniel even while Woojin was still in the room.

 

Sua sighs and rests her hand on his knee, squeezing lightly, “If you’re trying to be a good person, if you’re trying to do the right thing then Seongwoo-ah, you need to put this child first. I'm not doing this to hurt you, I'm not saying any of this to make you unhappy; that's the last thing I want to see. But Seongwoo-ah, before any of you get hurt, before this goes any further, I think you need to take a good, long look at where all this is headed and why you're going down this road. Because sooner or later someone is going to get hurt. Make the right choice.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Did you have fun today, Woojinie?”

 

“Yes,” the three year old yawns, nose crinkling cutely, “Lots’a fun. Linlin play ‘gain?”

 

“Maybe,” Seongwoo hums noncommittedly, glad the kids finally got along.

 

“Woojinie want play.”

 

“No more playing for today, baby. Last sleep before your daddy comes home,” Seongwoo murmurs, brushing Woojin’s hair softly as the sleepy boy cuddles into his chest after a shower, “Are you excited to see him? Did you miss you daddy, Woojinie?”

 

“Dadda……” Woojin mumbles sleepily, “Dadda home.”

 

“That’s right, your daddy’s coming back and then Woojinie will be going home,” his heart clenches at the thought.

 

It had only been a week but Seongwoo was used to the sound of Woojin running about in his condo already, used to his charming giggles, to the toys strewn across his once immaculate floor. He was going to miss this, miss Woojin, and he wondered how long it would take before he stopped listening for the sounds of a child in his life.

 

“Un’ca Se’woo home?”

 

“No bab- Woojin,” he corrects himself with a wince, “Uncle Seongwoo’s home is here.”

 

He looked around at these four walls, warm mocha fading into cold, death earth, hallways ringing empty as Woojin falls asleep and slips infinitely farther away than Seongwoo’s spasming fingers could hope to hold, than his fingers had any right to hold. Tomorrow he would return Woojin to his father, would turn around and Daniel would be glad to be rid of him, would be glad if Seongwoo's shadow never darkened his doorstep again.

 

“My home is right here,” he says though no one else hears, "Right here."

 

Some things he just wasn’t mean to have and keep in life.

 

 

 


	10. X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for copious amounts of stupidity and a slight deficit in Woojin screen time. 
> 
> Comments appreciated as always, x

The sun had just started its climb into the sky and Daniel’s back is aching from his ill-advised trip back home in the early hours in the morning, every muscle protesting the fact that he had slept cramped in a train seat that reclined a mere five inches backwards. Yet he shook off the fatigue easily, dragging his luggage after him as he got off the bus at the stop closest to Seongwoo’s apartment. He skirts past two residents leaving for an early morning jog, slipping in through the doors they inadvertently hold open for him with a polite nod to the security guard and runs towards the elevators.

 

It’s only when he stands outside Seongwoo’s apartment, hand raised and finger frozen before the doorbell, that he realizes what a phenomenally stupid idea this is.

 

It’s barely 7am. Seongwoo’s probably not awake yet and here Daniel is standing outside his door, dying to see his son but also mortified that he didn’t even stop to think about how unimpressed Seongwoo was going to be at being woken up this early.

 

They had made arrangements for Seongwoo to come pick Daniel up at the train station with Woojin at noon, Seongwoo offering haltingly to drive them back home afterwards and Daniel, not wanting to fight, had accepted. Yet Daniel had made the call to ditch those plans and take an overnight train back into town. Daniel was now standing outside Seongwoo’s door at an ungodly hour in the morning.

 

Like an idiot.

 

He doesn’t know how long he’s stands outside the door, feeling sweat gather along the nape of his neck and trickle down his back, gulping nervously though he itches to throw propriety to the wind so he can see Woojinie immediately. Woojin who he yearns to hold in his arms again, his precious son who was probably curled up in _Seongwoo’s_ arms and still fast asleep right now. Seongwoo had sent him plenty of pictures over the week, angled shots of Woojin curled up against Seongwoo's side, or with his face buried against the man’s stomach, little fingers refusing to let go of the man’s shirt. Daniel’s own fingers flex at the thought, throat aching with the pressure of longing and tasting of jealousy; Seongwoo wouldn’t mind, right? He would understand, right?

 

Just as he was about to give in and press the doorbell, the lock to the door clicks and the door swings open before Daniel’s startled eyes.

 

“Uh-”

 

Seongwoo jumps, slapping a hand over his own mouth as he swallows a scream, dropping the bag of trash in his hand as he stumbles backwards, one arm raised to fend off an unknown attacker before he registers who it was at his doorstep.

 

“D-daniel?”

 

“Y-yeah,” Daniel rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, ducking his head as his shoulders hunched under Seongwoo’s incredulous stare, “Hi?”

 

“What the- _you scared the shit out of me!_ ” Seongwoo hisses, picking up one of the bags and throwing it at Daniel in a fit of anger, cheeks flushed from his scare and Daniel almost forgets to duck, so distracted by how becoming the colour looks on the other man, “What are you….did you take an overnight train? We said noon!”

 

“I, um, I really wanted to see you guys,” the words slip out of his mouth before he can wrestle his brain under control and Daniel almost curses, “I mean Woojin! I _really_ wanted to see Woojin!”

 

“….right,” Seongwoo stares at him and then sighs, picking up everything he’s dropped and shaking his head, nudging Daniel’s suitcase out of the way with his foot, “He’s still sleeping in the master bedroom, you can go ahead……I’m going to…take out the trash.”

 

The look on his face makes Daniel think Seongwoo might want nothing more than to throw _Daniel_ out with the trash as well even as the other man hurries past him, door swinging shut behind him with a quiet click that seems out of place given everything that just went down. Looking around uneasily, Daniel steps out of his shoes and mutters a low ‘pardon my intrusion’ before padding over towards the room Seongwoo had vaguely gestured to. Easing the door open reveals a sight that eases all the anxiety and worries he had carried in his heart up until this point.

 

Woojin is curled up into a ball, one arm latched around a plush dinosaur, blankets lovingly tucked around him though he’s kicked one leg free. Seongwoo had thoughtfully lined the edge of the bed with pillows to prevent Woojin from rolling over and falling off, and Daniel slowly lifts them out of the way, sitting down gingerly and then reaching out with a hand to smooth his palm down Woojin’s hair.

 

He loses himself in the calming motion of petting his son’s hair, in tracing the babyish chubbiness of his cheeks, in counting every rise and fall of his chest. Slowly, however unintentially, the attention he pays the toddler pulls Woojin out of his slumber and the three year old opens his eyes blearily. Still blinking sleepily, Woojin whines a bit at the touch of Daniel’s fingers tracing his cheeks, turning his face away and into the bedsheets to flee from the ticklish feeling.

 

“No dadda, no,” he mumbles and Daniel chuckles, intentially aiming for his son’s neck and earning himself a squeal.

 

“Nooooo!”

 

“Aww baby, did you not miss daddy?” Daniel teases, “Daddy missed you so much.”

 

Grumbling, Woojin flops overs, eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at Daniel for the wake up call, still not quite registering that his father was back. Seeing his chance, Daniel swoops in and scoops his son up, settling the cranky toddler against his shoulder, breathing in the scent of baby oil edged with a citrus tang that was probably from Seongwoo’s preferred body wash. Woojin nuzzles against his neck with a wide yawn, hand coming up to clutch at Daniel’s shirt on instinct, snuggling closer to that familiar warmth, “Dadda…..”

 

“Yeah baby,” Daniel holds his son closer, looking up briefly at the sound of the master bedroom door closing, “Daddy’s back now.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Un’ca Se’woo, dadda home!” Woojin announces as he runs out of the bedroom, through the living room and into the kitchen where Seongwoo is making coffee, wrapping his arms around the man’s legs and bouncing excitedly, “Dadda home, no more sleeps!”

 

Seongwoo flashes Woojin a warm smile, hand coming down to ruffle the delighted child’s hair, “So he is. Is Woojinie happy?”

 

“Yes!” Woojin crows, hugging Seongwoo’s legs extra tight as if this express just how happy he was, “Like din’oser!”

 

Giving Seongwoo’s legs one more squeeze, Woojin hightails it back to Daniel’s side, pulling on the man’s trousers in a familiar demand to be held and Daniel is quick to respond to his son’s plea. Seongwoo gives him a terse nod before turning back to his coffee, eyes fixated willfully on the slow drip of caffeine that slowly flows through the filter to gather at the bottom of the pot, breathing in the aroma. It was just like any other morning, he told himself, just like any other morning. Woojin’s happy babbling behind him pulls Seongwoo out of his zen insistently.

 

No, he admits to himself while suppressing a sigh, it’s not like any other morning.

 

He had woken up at six this morning after barely any sleep, taking in Woojin’s sweet face as the boy slumbered on, wondering how easily the human heart got attached. Seven days, that was all it took for the child to find a place in his heart. If he walked away now, could he really bear it? Could Woojin bear it?

 

But no, his sister was right. Children were resilient, their healing rate was faster, whether that be physically, mentally, or emotionally. If he walked away now, Woojinie would be fine given time; it would be Seongwoo who was left wanting.

 

Unable to sleep, he had slipped out of bed slowly, pausing every few movements so as not to wake the child, tucking the blankets around Woojin in what was likely going to be the last time ever before slipped off the bed. Puttering around the bedroom and the living room, Seongwoo had slowly picked up every piece of Woojin’s presence scattered around his apartment and packed them away one by one, stopping every now and then just to take in the child’s peaceful form, unable to help the need to check in on him. In scant hours all this would be over, just the remnants of an unlikely fever dream.

 

Slipping on sandals to drop off the trash quickly at the chute two doors over, Seongwoo had opened his apartment door and then startled at the looming figure standing just inches from his face. In his panic he had dropped the bags while readying himself to fight the other off if needed, biting back a scream to avoid scaring Woojin, only to realize it was Daniel standing sheepishly at his doorstep.

 

And just like that, those scant hours had dwindled down to minutes, the sands of time slipping through his fingers faster than he could hope to hold them. The reality of the world had come knocking in a Daniel-shaped package, this was not his child and never would be, he had no right to cling in such an unseemly manner, and Seongwoo had excused himself quickly.

 

He had known that it was temporary, had known that today would be the end. He had never meant to get so attached, hadn’t thought……hadn’t thought a lot of things really when he agreed to do Daniel this favour.

 

“Hyung.”

 

Seongwoo turns at the sound of that stiff word coming from Daniel’s lips; the years had dulled any familiarity between them and the word sounded unnatural and out of place upon the younger’s tongue. Even now he was seated on one of Seongwoo’s barstools, son in his arms, posture conveying every iota of how awkward he feels to be here.

 

“Yes?” Seongwoo asks, pouring the coffee into two cups, bringing the cream and sugar over to the other countertop, restraining himself from adding two teaspoons of cream and a heaping five teaspoons of sugar to Daniel’s cup.

 

“Thank you for taking care of Woojinie, you really saved me there,” Daniel’s smile is tired, his face is lined with exhaustion that an overnight train had only worked more harshly into his skin, and yet the motion lights up his features just like it always has and Seongwoo takes a sip of his coffee to buy himself some time.

 

The liquid goes down heavy like stone even as Seongwoo calls upon every modelling tip he knows to school his face into what _he_ wants it to show rather than letting it give away his emotions. “You’re welcome, don’t worry about it too much. Woojinie and I had fun, didn’t we baby?”

 

The endearment slips out from his lips before he can control it but he can’t take it back now so Seongwoo just fixes the smile firmly to his lips, focusing on how Woojin immediately launches into a second (Or third? Maybe fourth?) retelling of everything he’s done with Seongwoo. He doesn’t look at the stunned, almost pained look that paints itself across Daniel’s face, he doesn’t. But this close and not scaled down to a grainy video through his phone, the emotions that flitter across Daniel’s face isn’t something Seongwoo can so easily explain away as a trick in the light. _I did that_ , he wants to laugh, wants to reach across and wipe it away with the pads of his thumbs, _I did that._

 

“Do you need a ride home?” Seongwoo finally says when Woojin’s chatter dies down, distracted by the apple slices Seongwoo slid across the table towards the toddler with a fond smile.

 

Daniel looks at him and then glances at Woojin and the two pieces of luggage they have. “No, it’s okay,” Daniel’s tone is resolute even as his eyes skirt across the backsplash of the kitchen, never meeting Seongwoo’s gaze, “I shouldn’t trouble you anymore, we’ll be fine taking the bus.”

 

Seongwoo opens his mouth to protest, to offer again, but the tense lines of Daniel’s shoulders give him pause and his teeth clack shut against nothing. Daniel’s arms are a protective cage around Woojin, drooping a kiss to the toddler’s hair in a motion so achingly tender that Seongwoo struggles not to avert his eyes for fear of intruding.

 

 _Step back, this isn’t about you._ The voice in his head sounds suspiciously like Sua and Seongwoo pulls everything back, tucking every urge and surge of emotion away behind tightly coiled muscles, hiding longing between sinew and bone.

 

“Okay, let me walk you down.”

 

* * *

 

 

It’s been a week since Woojin finally stopped mentioning Seongwoo in every other sentence, chatter a non-stop stream of repeating stories featuring ‘Uncle Seongwoo’ fading into occasional mentions.

 

It’s been two weeks since Daniel got the promotion he had worried so much over and was still equal parts elated and worried about.

 

It’s been three weeks since Seongwoo had given him that small smile and uttered the words ‘okay, I’ll walk you down,” and then proceeded to do exactly that.

 

A part of Daniel feels cheated that Seongwoo hadn’t even put up a token protest, that Seongwoo hadn’t insisted like he did before to take the two of them home. It’s silly, it’s illogical when Daniel was the one who had turned down the other’s offer, when Daniel was the one who had hated the way Seongwoo insisted before. This was what he wanted from the beginning, for Seongwoo to stop intruding on his life.

 

 _Be careful what you wish for indeed_ , he thinks to himself with a snort as he runs his hand across his new desk, closing the latest report he finished reviewing and slipping it into the ‘Out’ pile with a decisive motion. But what did he want really?

 

Even though Seongwoo had done exactly as Daniel had asked and backed out of his life gracefully, his presence still made itself known. The other man must have said something to their mutual friends as well because the group chat had been conspicuously free of any mentions of Seongwoo’s name ever since he came back from that business trip. Daniel should be happy, should be moving on and forgetting about Seongwoo like he wanted to, should have taken this rare mercy from the universe and let this all go, just another passing chapter in his life closed. Yet even when he was desperately trying to escape it, it seemed like his own traitorous brain refused to let go, pulling up memories, grasping at the slightest hairs for a way to remind him of Seongwoo, Seongwoo, _Seongwoo._

 

His phone was still full of pictures with Seongwoo in the background of the hundreds of selcas Woojin insisting on taking and sending to him over that one week period.

 

When he stopped to pick up Woojin’s new dinosaur plush toy yesterday he could swear he still caught a whiff of Seongwoo’s cologne clinging to the soft fabric.

 

When he opened his fridge, that stupid brand of organic apple juice Woojinie so adored and that they could now afford still stared back at him mockingly as the words 'I don't need you!' echoes in his eardrums.

 

“Mr. Kang?” a knock on his cubicle partition breaks him out from his reverie.

 

“Yes?” he puts on a friendly smile as he looks up at the new intern, the nervous twenty year-old fidgeting with a lopsided tie.

 

“Boss told me to pass you these,” Daniel reaches out to accept the files, “And to ask you if you can attend an emergency out of town meeting scheduled for tomorrow with the client from Swing Corp., one of the contractors pulled out last minute and Manager Kwon would normally be taking charge but he’s is still away on another assignment…”

 

Hyeongseob trails off at the look on Daniel’s face before he hastens to finish delivering his message in a rush that Daniel just barely manages to decipher, “It’s only two days, just one day overnight!”

 

“Okay, thank you for letting me know,” Daniel’s implied consent and understanding tone seems to set Hyeongseob at ease, the younger still at that age where a ‘no’ seemed to be treated as a personal failure regardless of whether he had any control over the event itself, “Can you send me the details for accommodations and if there are tickets already booked? I’ll need to make arrangements.”

 

“Yes! Of course, I’ll do that right away!” and then he was off before Daniel could get in another word, chuckling fondly to himself; was he ever this bright-eyed and eager?

 

Sure enough, the hotel room check-in information and an e-ticket for the train pops up in his e-mail shortly. He takes a look at the train ticket information and blinks, willing the numbers to change but they don’t; it’s a ticket for 11 pm tonight, an over-night ride in a compartment with a bed purchased courtesy of Swing Corp. with a politely worded apology for the last-minute arrangements. Daniel curses under his breath, hand already reaching to his phone to call up Jisung and beg his hyung for another favour in a long string of favours.

 

But then his finger develops a mind of it’s own, scrolling past Jisung’s name in the contact to hover over a forbidden number. He’s insane clearly, this is a decision with astronomical proportions geared towards disaster, something that should be beyond consideration.

 

He hits dial.

 

“Hello?”

 

Daniel launches into his spiel the instant the line connects, “Seongwoo hyung, I need a favour, a huge favour. Can you take Woojin again for two nights?”

 

“……excuse me?”

 

“I have a last minute meeting, it’s a emergency. I’m leaving tonight.”

 

The sound of static rasps across the line as Seongwoo sighs, “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

 

“Please hyung?” he throws the word out like a desperate plea, a shameless play on emotion.

 

“I don’t think I can,” Seongwoo responds after a moment’s hesitation, the chatter of some cafe or restaurant in the background, “I’m going into the studio tomorrow, I can’t bring him with me. Have you asked any of the others?”

 

“They’re busy,” the lie falls from his lips easily enough, “Can you please watch him, just two days, I’ll come back early on an over-night train again.”

 

“No, I really don’t think I can……I…no, I can’t, I’m sorry. I…actually, can you hang on for one second?”

 

Seongwoo’s voice cuts off before all Daniel can hear is fabric muting the receiver and a low muffled conversation on the other end, and he waits impatiently, wondering is Seongwoo was going to change his mind, no liking the sounds of ‘we need to talk’. He can just catch the sound of the phone being uncovered before a familiar voice filters through.

 

“Kang Daniel.”

 

Daniel’s blood freezes in his veins, heart rate sky rocketing as the muscle tries and fails to provide him with the necessities to flee.

 

“Hyung,” he croaks, throat suddenly sandpaper dry.

 

Jisung’s unamused voice is stern and unimpressed, “You have five seconds to explain when you even bothered to ask me if I can take Woojin.”

 

“I-”

 

“You didn’t,” Jisung cuts him off, “You didn’t, and I don’t want excuses. I want to know why you thought that you should lie to Seongwoo about this and push when he already told you no.

 

His answer doesn’t even make it to his throat, caught in the turns of his mind, an endless cycle of _I don’t knows_.

 

“That’s what I thought,” Jisung deadpans, “I’ll be by your place to pick up Woojin at 9pm.”

 

“Okay, thank you hyung,” the words sound weak even to his ears and yet he can’t think of another response.

 

“And Daniel? We’re going to have a _long_ chat about this when you get back.”


	11. XI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Daniel is the actual dad, but Jisung is still the best at parenting because he _raised all of you, dammit!_

 

“I’m sorry you ended up having to drive over here,” Jisung turns to Seongwoo, chagrinned smile on his lips, wearing a sheepish look so reminiscent of when they were younger and Jisung had tried and failed at keeping some caffeine-crazed freshman in line that Seongwoo couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“No worries hyung, really, I offered to carpool so we wouldn’t have to fight for parking in that area, and it was also partially my fault we were chatting for so long it got too late for you to swing by and pick up your car first.”

 

“But still…it’s not fair to you given everything we just talked about…” Jisung trails off with a sigh and then shakes out his shoulders as if he could dismiss his worries with that simple motion, “Well, wait down here for a moment, I’ll be right back.”

 

Seongwoo watches as Jisung unbuckles his seatbelt swiftly, opening the door and swinging his long legs out. “Do you want me to come with you? Help carry anything?” he offers, holding up his hand in surrender when Jisung snaps back around to pin him down with a glare.

 

“Don’t you _dare_ Ong Seongwoo. You are going to stay in this car and wait until I get back. Nothing good will come of you going up with me and I promise, it won’t take more than five minutes.”

 

“Alright, alright, I’ll stay right here and wait for you like a good boy,” Seongwoo says the last two words just a little mockingly, grinning as he ducks Jisung’s retaliatory swipe, not that he could reach from where he stood outside the car.

 

“You better,” Jisung throws over his shoulder, settling for making threatening gestures at Seongwoo before closing the car door and making his way to the stairs of the dimly lit apartment complex.

 

Seongwoo sighs and then settles back into his seat as Jisung disappears from view, willing himself to breathe steadily, slow and calm. He closes his eyes for good measure, trying his best to recall everything Jisung had said in the last couple of hours as a reminder for himself. It had been an echo of his sister’s statements, minus her obvious dislike for Daniel and with added perspective; he had, intentionally or not, overstepped his boundaries, and his attempts at being helpful were “grossly misguided” to put it in Jisung’s words. He understands that, acknowledges now that what he had offered and then forced upon Daniel was not kindness but distress. He understands even though he doesn’t want to think about why, doesn’t want to think about the fact that he still wants to help now knowing that Daniel is struggling even if it wasn’t his place to do so.

 

Rapid-fire taps on his car door breaks Seongwoo out of his reverie and moments later, Jisung is opening up the door for an excited Woojin who struggles to clamber into the front passenger seat, hands already reaching out for Seongwoo with a wide smile. “Un’ca Se’woo, Un’ca Se’woo,” the toddler squeals, and Seongwoo is reaching for him immediately, helping him into the seat and then across the console and into Seongwoo’s lap.

 

His heart melts watching the way Woojin nuzzles his face against the front of Seongwoo’s sweater, tiny hands patting at his chest as he repeated Seongwoo’s name between giggles. Woojin looks up at him, crinkles his nose, before setting off into another round of fresh giggles and Seongwoo can’t help but grin back though he doesn’t know what’s so amusing to the toddler. He swoops down to press a kiss to Woojin’s forehead, slowly wrapping his arms around the three year old. “Hey baby,” the endearment forms on his tongue easily as if it had never been gone at all, “Did you miss me?”

 

It’s an unfair question to ask and one he shouldn’t have said, shouldn’t be fishing to hear what he wanted from a child that doesn’t know better but Woojin only cranes upwards to smack his own wet kiss to Seongwoo’s cheek and declares loudly, “Miss you!”

 

Jisung clear his throat, reaching over to take Woojin back and settle him in his lap for the drive back to his place for a lack of a carseat right now. He’s watching Seongwoo strangely and it takes Seongwoo a moment to place what emotion it is. Regret? Sadness? Discomfort?

 

It’s pity, he realizes, and Seongwoo starts the car hastily, bile rushing up from the back of his throat.

 

He doesn’t want pity, doesn’t need pity. Seongwoo didn’t work this hard all these years to get to where he was just for Jisung to look at him with _pity_. He pulls out of the cul-de-sac easily, focusing on driving Jisung home while giving short but sincere answers to the babbling toddler beside him. Woojin is telling a story about his dinosaur plushie and Seongwoo thinks it’s about puppies too, or ninja, or puppies that are also ninja, he really isn’t sure at this point, so he just nods along, making interested sounds as he goes along. Jisung has to stop Woojin from ‘showing his dinosaur to Seongwoo’ at least five times, thrilled as the toddler was to share _everything_ with his ‘Un’ca Se’woo’ and it’s a miracle they didn’t get into an accident.

 

Seongwoo is about to swear that Woojin will always be in a car seat in the back from now on when he remembers his promise before to back off and swallows his words to Jisung, asking Woojin if his dinosaur eats broccoli instead. Woojin makes a face, clearly still not a fan of the vegetable, and Jisung chimes in, reminding Woojin that broccoli were, in fact, just tiny trees and dinosaurs that ate them grew strong and tall, but Woojin needed to eat his broccoli to grow.

 

The three year old is still arguing his case in halting sentences punctuated by sharp ‘no’s’ when Seongwoo turns into the parking lot and parks the car. “We’re here,” he says softly, wincing at his statement of the obvious, but Woojin looks thrilled at the announcement, “Need help getting anything upstairs?“

 

“No, I think I’ve got him,” Jisung smiles wanly, getting out of the car with Woojin in his arms, reaching one hand back to nap the overnight bag with the boy’s things, “Thanks for the company, see you later?”

 

“Yeah,” Seongwoo forces a smile in return, ripping his eyes away from Woojin’s form, “I’ll see you later, have a good night. Bye Woojinie! Have fun with your Uncle Jisung!”

 

 

* * *

 

 

He makes it approximately three steps from the car before Woojin starts to realize something was wrong, that this was not what he wanted. He starts squirming in Jisung’s arms right away, neck craning around, trying to catch sight of Seongwoo who was no where to be seen. Jisung knows the exact moment Woojin spots Seongwoo’s car pulling away from the curb and because the toddler starts kicking out ferociously, calling out Seongwoo’s name as his tiny hands pushed at Jisung with much more strength than anyone expected a three year old to have.

 

“Woojinie-ah,” Jisung tries to explain, letting out an ‘oof’ as he dodged a pudgy fist of complaint, “Uncle Seongwoo has to go home, samchon is going to play with Woojinie, okay?”

 

“No!” the toddler exclaims, “Want Un’ca Se’woo! Samchon no!”

 

Jisung can feel a slight prickling of jealousy that Woojin was rejecting him for Seongwoo but shakes it off quickly, focusing on carting the whining toddler up to his apartment. He dodges two more pudgy fists while in the elevator, feeling the bruises forming already along his upper thighs and waist as Woojin continued to kick and sob, crocodile tears streaming down his face. “Wan’ Un’ca Se’woo! Wan’ Un’ca Se’woo!”

 

Jisung deposits Woojin on the ground the moment they’re inside his apartment, closing the door quickly before the little boy could try and dart out and run after the car or something dangerous. Spinning around he grasps both of Woojin’s fists firmly and puts on his sternest voice.

 

“No.”

 

“Wan’ Un’ca-”

 

“Woojinie, **no** ,” Jisung repeats, giving his fists a little shake, “We don’t kick and we don’t punch. Hitting is bad, you know this. Why are you hitting samchon?”

 

“Wan’ Un’ca Se’woo,” the toddler repeats miserably, lower lip quivering as he plops down on the ground heavily, gearing himself up for more tears.

 

Jisung crouches, “But do we kick and punch? Woojinie hurt samchon when he was kicking and punching. Did you want to hurt samchon?”

 

“No!” Woojin exclaims, eyes wide, “Samchon ‘urt?”

 

“Samchon has an ouchie now,” Jisung points to his stomach, “because Woojinie was kicking.”

 

“Woojinie sorry,” the toddler says immediately, looking even more miserable now, “Samchon no mad pwease, Woojinie sorry.”

 

“Samchon won’t be mad if Woojinie is good and promises not to hit again,” Jisung continues, staying firm, “Can Woojinie be good and not hit?”

 

“Yes, Woojinie no hit, Woojinie good. Samchon no mad, Woojinie sorry.”

 

The toddler scoots himself forward on his bum and then leans forward awkwardly to press a kiss to Jisung’s stomach, “Bye bye ouchie.”

 

Jisung’s heart melts a little at the act, scooping Woojin up for a hug. “Thank you Woojinie, then samchon forgives you for hitting. Woojinie needs to use his words if he wants something, okay? Tell samchon what you want, no hitting.”

 

“No hitting,” Woojin repeats solemnly, throwing both arms around Jisung’s neck as he snuggles close, still apologetic for the ‘ouchie’, “Samchon, Un’ca Se’woo pwease?”

 

“Uncle Seongwoo had to go home, Woojinie. You know how your daddy needed to go to work?”

 

The toddler nods, hair brushing against Jisung’s jaw with each motion.

 

“Well Uncle Seongwoo has work reeaally early in the morning, so he needs to go home and sleep. He can’t come play with Woojinie right now, okay?”

 

“‘Kay,” the toddler mumbles, “Woojinie send goo’night kiss?”

 

“Goodnight kiss?” Jisung questions as he steers them further inside the apartment, dropping Woojin’s stuff off in a corner of his room as he sets the toddler down on his bed, moving to pull out the cot he keeps for guests.

 

“Goo’night kiss!” Woojin chirps, all traces of tears gone, pointing at Jisung’s phone, “Mwah!”

 

“You want to call your Uncle Seongwoo to say goodnight?”

 

“Yes!”

 

Jisung considers the idea - on one hand, Woojin had apologized and the request was something feasible, on the other hand, he didn’t want to reward the toddler’s earlier tantrum nor have him get even more attached to Seongwoo if the other wasn’t going to be sticking around in the long term. “Only if you’re good for samchon for the rest of the night,” he says finally, “If Woojinie is good, then you can say goodnight to your daddy and to Uncle Seongwoo, okay? But if not, then no call, okay?”

 

“Kay! Woojinie good!”

 

As promised, Woojin was an absolute little angel for the rest of the evening, getting into his bath and brushing his teeth obediently, slipping into pyjamas and then settling into bed without any complaint, even trying his best to help Jisung fluff out the comforter and arrange the sheets. Jisung can’t help but feel a bit uneasy now, he hadn’t expected Woojin to be so attached to Seongwoo after only having known the man for such a short time. Seongwoo too, Jisung muses, thinking back to the endeared and fond look on the other man’s face when Woojin had clambered into his lap in the car - Seongwoo also seemed to genuinely love the child. Not that Jisung had ever doubted the other man’s intentions but it was another thing entirely to see it himself, the easy way they interacted, the absolute joy on Woojin’s face and that tender way Seongwoo held the child.

 

Seeing Woojin’s tantrum though, he makes a note to talk to Daniel about that as well when the younger man was back from his business trip. Not that Woojin doesn’t throw tantrums as much as the next child, but that had been a gross overreaction to Seongwoo’s departure. Had Woojin reacted like that before? Or was something else going on. Jisung shook his head; either way, it wasn’t his problem to solve.

 

“Samchon?”

 

He turns around to see Woojin sitting on the cot, hands clasping Jisung’s phone between them tightly like he was afraid Jisung would take it away. Jisung smiles and moves over to sit on the cot next to Woojin, “Yes Woojinie?”

 

“Woojinie good?” he holds up the phone, “Pwease.”

 

Jisung glances at the clock, Seongwoo should still be awake at ten thirty and Daniel would be on his way to the train station. “Okay, Woojinie was good. Do you want to call daddy first or your Uncle Seongwoo first?”

 

“Un’ca Se’woo!” is the enthusiastic response and Jisung can’t help but smile at the way Woojin squirms excitedly in his spot, “Wit’ pi’chur?”

 

“Alright, let’s see if Seongwoo is busy…” Jisung mutters under his breath as he pulls up Seongwoo’s contact and hits the video call button on Kakao.

 

The phone rings for a just over ten seconds before it connects. “Hello?” Seongwoo’s confused face fills up the screen, hair still wet from a shower, “Hyung? Everything okay?”

 

“Un’ca Se’woo!” Woojinie squeals, hands reaching for the phone that Jisung hands over, amused, “Hiiiiiiii!”

 

“He wanted to say goodnight,” Jisung raises his voice enough to be heard over Woojin’s excited babbling, “You’re not busy, right?”

 

“Of course not, I always have time for Woojinie,” Seongwoo says, eyes crinkling up slightly as he smiles, scrunching his nose at Woojin through the screen as the toddler giggles, bringing the phone close to smoosh his own nose against the camera, “Are you having fun with your samchon, baby?”

 

“Yes,” Woojin sings, snuggling closer to his plush dinosaur before waving one of the stuffed arms at the camera as well, Jisung holding up the phone for him, “Channie say hi too!”

 

“Hi Channie,” Seongwoo greets the dinosaur obligingly, “Has Channie been good for Woojinie?”

 

“Woojinie _love_ Channie and Channie love Woojinie too! Bestest!” Woojin declares, squeezing the plush toy impossibly closer before launching into a story about how he brought his toy to pre-school and they played ninja.

 

The call lasts another fifteen minutes, Woojin determined to tell Seongwoo _everything_ that has happened since he last saw him and by then Jisung’s poor arm was about to fall off. “Woojinie-ah,” he says to cut off the conversation, “Uncle Seongwoo has to sleep now, can you say goodnight?”

 

The boy pouts but a stern look from Jisung reminds him of his promise and he reluctantly complies. “Bye bye Un’ca Se’woo, goo’night!” he waves, blowing kisses towards the camera that Seongwoo returns.

 

“Goodnight baby, sweet dreams.”

 

Jisung stands up, taking the phone with him as he stretches his legs and stepping a short ways away into the washroom. “He’s attached to you,” he says lightly, dropping his voice so Woojin doesn’t overhear.

 

“Probably because he saw me again,” Seongwoo sidesteps the unspoken question, “And with Daniel out of town again…was he okay?”

 

“He threw a tantrum when you left,” Jisung admits frankly, “I was so surprised, he’s usually much better behaved.”

 

Seongwoo pulls a face and then looks away for a moment before turning back with a strainedsmile, “I’m sure he’ll be good for you when he’s less cranky about his dad leaving. Did you need anything else, hyung? Sorry, I just have some prep work still to finish before the meeting tomorrow morning.”

 

“No,” he sighs, “Thanks for making time to talk to him, we can catch up again once you’re less busy with this project?”

 

“Sure,” Seongwoo smiles a bit more easily now, “It’s my turn to treat for dinner next, isn’t it?”

 

“No backing out now,” Jisung jokes, “Hey, are you okay if Woojin wants to call you again tomorrow? I won’t bring it up to him first but if he asks….”

 

“Of course,” Seongwoo agrees immediately, “Just, if you know around what time, shoot me a message so I’ll know.”

 

“Sure, well, have a good night Seongwoo.”

 

“Good night hyung,” the other waves before disconnecting the call.

 

Stepping back into the bedroom, he find Woojin had climbed onto his bed and was in the process of building a pillow fort for his dragon. “Woojinie-ah, do you want to call your daddy?”

 

“Yes!” the toddler sings, abandoning the fort, jumping up to rush over excitedly, leaving Jisung to run and catch him before he toppled over the edge of the bed in his excitement and hurt himself.

 

With a fond sigh, he dialled Daniel’s number and then waited; it was going to be a tiring two days.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Seongwoo-ssi?”

 

Seongwoo looks up at the call of the his name to see the trainee receptionist of the building hovering nervously by the doorway. He nods at his coworkers, gesturing that he’ll be back in a moment, and then makes his way over. “Yes?”

 

“You, um, you have some guests in the main lobby,” the girl fidgets, biting her bottom lip and struggling to keep eye contact, “Building protocol says we’re not allowed to let any visitors up without an employee vouching for them and you hadn’t left any notice with us to expect anyone so…”

 

Seongwoo smiles back as kindly as he can, knowing how nervous she must be, afraid he might be upset she denied these visitors entrance even though she was just doing her job. “That’s not a problem at all, thank you for letting me know. I actually wasn’t expecting anyone but it could be friends of mine, did they happen to give you a name?”

 

“Ah, yes,” she fumbles to pull out her phone and pull up a memo, “There’s a Yoon Jisung-ssi and a Ha Sungwoon-ssi here? There’s also a child accompanying them and I was…unsure if you would like a child in your studio.”

 

“No no, that’s fine,” Seongwoo is quick to reassure her, “I would appreciate if you could let them up? Or do I need to come down with you and sign something?”

 

“Ah, no need to come down, Seongwoo-ssi. I’ll just make note that we had the conversation and, um, maybe if you could just initial their sign-ins tonight when you leave?”

 

“Of course, thank you,” he nods to the girl who retreats quickly, cheeks flushed, and returns to his amused coworkers.

 

“Well, she’s certainly got a crush on you,” Jeonghan smiles in that way of his that suggests he’s thinking up some scheme Seongwoo would rather know nothing about but should watch his interactions with the receptionist from now on.

 

“She was nervous having to come bearing ‘bad news’, you know how some of the higher ups in the building can be,” he rolls his eyes and pulls the design they had been dissecting closer, trying to recall the specifics of what they had been discussing about the hemline, “Leave the poor girl to do her job in peace.”

 

“I wasn’t going to interfere with her job,” the other protests and Seongwoo rolls his eyes, having known his friend since the second year of their design program.

 

“I said _in peace_ , and for me as well; stop trying to set me up with people. Now, the hemline, I was thinking scalloped lace has been done too much lately.”

 

“So what were you thinking instead?” Jeonghan asks, all business once again, the switch almost staggering to try and follow for someone unfamiliar with him.

 

“Asymmetrical?” he starts sketching a couple of examples of how he wants the skirt to fall roughly on the paper beside the design and Jeonghan hums, eyes darting from each like dragonflies before pointing to the third sketch.

 

“That one, I think. It would work best with the pattern and also lets the skirt stand out from the other pieces in the collection.”

 

“Okay,” Seongwoo mumbles, making notes on his tablet of the changes, “Let’s get that to one of the interns for a sample to see how it holds up-”

 

“Un’ca Se’woo!”

 

The excited shout of a toddler cuts through the quiet of the studio and Seongwoo turns around, a grin blooming on his face already at the sound of his name spoken by one of his favourite people. Woojin was swinging between Sungwoon and Jisung, little feet dangling as he hopped around and the adults tugged him just a little into the air each time to his obvious delight.

 

“Hyung,” Seongwoo nods towards Jisung and Sungwoon, the former’s face conveying exactly how doubtful he was of coming here, but a quick glance at Sungwoon’s sunny smiles told Seongwoo exactly whose idea had led them here in the first place, “Come to visit?”

 

“Yes,” Jisung answers, just a little stiffly, his glare towards Sungwoon glancing off like falling water, “We were having lunch with Sungwoon and when he told Woojin your work was in the same area, he _insisted_ on visiting.”

 

“Woojinie wanted to see his Uncle Seongwoo!” Sungwoon shrugs, laughing, “And good uncles make his wishes come true, isn’t that right Woojinie?”

 

The toddler giggles, nodding enthusiastically and Seongwoo crouches just in time to catch him when the three year old throws himself forwards, flinging his arms around Seongwoo’s neck as he wrapped himself around the man like a limpet. “Hiiiii,” he sings and Seongwoo chuckles, standing with the child resting on his hip and pressing a kiss to Woojin’s head.

 

“Hi Woojinie, did you come to see where Uncle Seongwoo works?”

 

“Yes! Wan’ see!” Woojin looks around curiously, spotting Jeonghan and waving happily, “Hi!”

 

“Hello,” Jeonghan waves back lazily, eyes flickering towards Seongwoo as his lips curled in amusement, “I wasn’t aware your sister had another child, Seongwoo.”

 

“Not my nephew, just the son of a…a friend.”

 

“Uhuh,” Jeonghan wears a full-blown smirk, picking up the tablet, “I’ll pass this on to Yeona, I’ll leave you to your guests, but don’t forget Doyeon is coming for her fitting today. Nice meeting you all, Woojinie.”

 

“Right, thanks Jeonghan,” Seongwoo replies even as Woojin shouts his own goodbyes, “Right, so, a quick tour then, shall we?”

 

Seongwoo leads them around the studio, splitting his time between chatting with Sungwoon and answering Woojin’s questions while Jisung followed behind like a silent disapproving shadow. Between the three of them, they keep Woojin’s curious fingers out of anything delicate or dangerous easily enough, though it was hardly a challenge given how the toddler refused to allow Seongwoo to put him down. Every attempt was met with a sad whine of no before he snuggled closer and Seongwoo didn’t have the heart to insist, resigning himself to an achey lower back that night.

 

“And this, baby, is where we-” he cuts himself off at the flash he spots from his peripheral vision, “What-”

 

“Oppa, you have a kid?!”

 

Seongwoo groans and then turns to meet the wide-eyed gaze of Doyeon, whose fingers were already flying across her phone sending off messages about his supposed child to god knows who, and Jeonghan smirking in a self-satisfied manner behind her.

 

Perfect. Just _perfect._


	12. XII

It’s halfway through the afternoon meeting and Daniel’s head is pounding already from the back and forth that had been going on since the morning and resumed as soon as lunch wrapped up.

 

The argument had, thus far, been forcibly polite, with neither side wanting to come out as the person to break the precarious peace, but also no one willing to concede their interests. It’s to a point where Daniel was considering forcing somebody’s hand to break the impasse when his phone starts vibrating.

 

Not the vibration of a kakao message, no, it was an incessant series of vibrations that continued on for a good half hour, threatening to burn a hole straight though his thigh with its intensity and Daniel pales, wondering if there was something that had happened to his son. Except the phone never rings and he knows that Jisung would have called in rapid succession enough to break the ‘do not disturb’ setting on his phone if that was indeed the case. He’s itching with curiosity and worry by the time everyone decides a break is needed and he jumps to his feet quickly, excusing himself to go to the washroom.

 

He ducks into a stall and pulls out his phone to find private and group chats he’s part of have exploded. Clicking blindly on the first chat pulls up a message from Dongho hyung, and Daniel freezes, eyes bulging in incredulity.

 

_Niel-ah, is there a reason why everyone seems to think Woojin is Seongwoo’s son?_

 

He reads over the message once, twice, and then a third and fourth time. Nothing changes, not a single word shifts. No follow up message proclaiming it to be just a joke.

 

Quickly, he exits out of that chat and starts going through everything else at a rapid-fire pace, paling with every sentence that he reads.

 

 

 

 

> _Hey Daniel, have you heard the post that’s been going around?_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _Lolol, so was Woojin your love child with Seongwoo all along?_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _Yo have you seen this pic? Seongwoo hyung’s son looks like a dead-ringer for your kid, man!_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _Oppa! Did you see, did you see??? Seongwoo oppa has a kid!_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _Niel, did you and Seongwoo hyung get back together???_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _Uh Niel-ah…is there a reason why everyone keeps asking me if Woojin is really Seongwoo’s kid?_

 

 

He stops reading after the nth message proclaiming Woojin was Seongwoo’s or that Seongwoo had a kid who happened to look _just_ like his son. Fumbling his phone for a second, Daniel dials Jisung’s number quickly, holding the phone to his ear heart pounding even though he doesn’t know why.

 

It’s not that big of a deal, really, it isn’t, or at least it shouldn’t be.

 

Someone had started a rumour or there was some stupid misunderstanding. Yet his hands were shaking, heart palpitating, his breathing stutters at the very thought that people thought Woojin was his and Seongwoo both’s.

 

“Niel-”

 

Daniel cuts Jisung off the moment the line connects, “Hyung, what’s going on? Why do I have five thousand messages about Woojin being Seongwoo’s kid?”

 

A rasp of static is all that answers him and Daniel can’t help but tap his foot impatiently, glancing at his watch and seeing he only had another five minutes to spare.

 

“We had lunch with Sungwoon and he told Woojinie that Seongwoo worked close by,” Jisung starts, tone tired and as no nonsense as it ever gets when he’s irritated beyond belief, “Your son kept asking to visit him so Sungwoon insisted on taking him and we dropped by. A friend of Seongwoo’s saw, snapped a picture, and misunderstood.”

 

“But then _why_ does everyone know?” Daniel gripes, fingers raking through his hair in clear agitation, “How did one person misunderstanding turn into everyone we know and their uncle’s pet poodle asking about this?”

 

“Niel-ah,” his hyung deadpans, “You are underestimating the power of famous women and people’s need to gossip.”

 

“What.”

 

“Does the name Kim Doyeon ring a bell?”

 

Daniel blinks as his mind conjures up images of Korea’s latest sweetheart, a young model turned actress who had starred in a hit drama last season and whose face had since been plastered across billboards everywhere as she raked in endorsements left, right, and centre.

 

“Yeah,” he grimaces, already wondering where this was going to go, “I know who you’re talking about.”

 

“Apparently Miss Kim Doyeon has been working with Seongwoo’s brand since its launch and she started modelling. She was the one who took the picture and then posted it on her twitter, gushing about how it was ‘bring your kid to work day’ in the studio and tagged Seongwoo.”

 

Daniel grimaces; that explains how the photo circulated so quickly. “When I get back, I’m going to smack Sungwoon hyung a good one for this mess,” he grumbles, startling when Jisung sighs heavily, “Hyung?”

 

“Niel-ah, it’s just a misunderstanding, it’ll blow over in a couple of hours, why are you so upset about this?”

 

“I-” Daniel trails off, biting into the words he doesn’t want to say out loud.

 

How can his uncooperative tongue possibly give form to the chaotic thoughts that are running rampant in his mind? The image of Woojin slumbering on Seongwoo’s chest, both sprawled across that cramped couch in Daniel’s apartment springs unbidden from the depths of his mind and his heart stutters even as his face burns. He wonders what is would be like to come home and walk through that door again, and again, and again. To see that scene again and again and again. The thoughts dispel like ripples across water at the sound of Jisung calling his name and his lips twist into a mockery of a smile.

 

“I have to get back to work now hyung,” he says weakly instead, “I’ll talk to you later, thanks for looking after Woojin again.”

 

He hangs up before Jisung has a chance to respond, not wanting to hear the judgement in the older man’s voice because that was an excuse and they both know it. Stumbling out of the stall, he takes a moment to wash his face and centre himself.

 

 _Focus, Daniel, focus,_ he scolds himself, slapping his cheeks to get that glassy-eyed look out of his face.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“You did that on purpose,” Seongwoo rounds on Jeonghan the moment that the door shuts behind Woojin’s reluctant form, the child finally coaxed from the studio by a cajoling Sungwoon and a stern Jisung.

 

The smirk that spreads across Jeonghan’s face is a slow, insidious thing, the other man smacks his lips together with a sense of satisfaction that has Seongwoo fighting the urge to lob the closest sample on hand at his friend’s smug head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I reminded you about Doyeon’s visit.”

 

“Don’t act innocent, Hannie, it doesn’t suit you - the whole angel thing stopped working years ago,” Seongwoo rolls his eyes, stalking over to his work station where the other man was still leaned against the table leisurely, swiping at Jeonghan’s perfectly styled hair half-heartedly.

 

Jeonghan ducks under the swipe, somehow making the abrupt movement languid in a way only the laziest people could, energy conserved so that he made the smallest and slowest movement possible while still escaping Seongwoo’s reach. “What’s the harm anyways? More publicity for the brand; the fashion show is soon, it’ll help garner ore interest for us. Look,” he pulls up something on his phone and then tilts the screen towards Seongwoo, “the internet loves you holding a kid! Our brand looks amazingly wholesome now; all we’re missing is a puppy to go with the kid.”

 

Seongwoo pushes the phone away from him, grimacing, “That child is not a publicity stunt; next time you want to get back at me, you keep other people, _children especially_ , out of it, okay? I don’t want the child getting bothered by random people on the street or his father harassed by people who think they’re entitled to their time now that you made Woojin internet famous or whatever they call it.”

 

“Trends come and pass just as quickly,” Jeonghan flaps his hand as if the very motion would dispel anything unpleasant lingering in the air, “They’ll be fine, don’t worry about it. You’re not _that_ famous, most people don’t know your face since you asked not to be pictured in interviews; if Doyeon had been holding the kid that would have been more of a problem.”

 

“No next time, not with Woojin.”

 

Jeonghan falters for a moment, his next words melting away as he took in the quiet insistence etched into Seongwoo’s stance, tasted the steel in that statement. “So, the next design?” he offers instead and Seongwoo goes with the change of topic easily, digging through the sketches piled hap-hazardously on the work station.

 

As much as Jeonghan loved to tease and get under someone’s skin, he did respected limits, though it took Seongwoo years to learn how to set them out clearly. Retorting only ever got Jeonghan more excited to poke and prod at sore spots, what with most of his friends rarely humouring him in this way. Joshua had taken Seongwoo aside quietly one day after Jeonghan left the room with the widest, self-satisfied smile on his face while Seongwoo bristled, struggling to hide his irritation behind a nonchalant facade.

 

“It’s okay to tell him no,” Joshua had murmured quietly while handing Seongwoo a cup of instant coffee, the kind of swill only broke university students fighting deadlines would willingly drink.

 

Seongwoo remembers faltering in that moment; it’s the first time someone had told him that instead of telling him to just be the bigger man, the better person, whatever saying there was which necessitated him putting someone else before himself, whether he wanted to or not. He’s not soft, he’s not helpless, a few words shouldn’t matter that much and at the end of the day, he was raised to turn the other cheek, so why make a big deal of things?

 

His silence had been enough and even now he can recall the weight of Joshua’s hand on his shoulder as the other man got up to chase after and wrangle his troublesome best friend before he started more trouble, “Tell him no, Seongwoo. God knows he doesn’t need more people bending to his whims.”

 

If only telling Jeonghan no translated well to telling other people no, Seongwoo mused, a wry smile on his lips that had Jeonghan quirking an eyebrow in question. Seongwoo shakes his head quickly, shoving the next design at Jeonghan before the other could poke and prod, “Thoughts?”

 

He banishes the echo of a child’s footsteps pattering through the hallways of his mind, blocks out that low tone calling out ‘hyung’ through the phone, a voice he hadn’t heard in years and still makes his heart ache. _Let go, step back, say no._ The mantra repeats itself until the voices of Jisung, Joshua, and his sister blends together into some warped nightmare sound. The only thing stopping him from trying to physically shake the words out of his head in hopes of knocking the noise out of the chambers of his skull is the fact that Jeonghan would definitely have questions.

 

_Let go._

 

_Step back._

 

_Say no._

 

 _Focus on the present,_ his sigh passes almost noiselessly across the sheaf of papers, _let the past lie._

 

 

* * *

 

 

Seongwoo stays the night at the studio despite Jeonghan’s remarks about how his back isn’t going to thank him for it, that they’re not so young anymore even though they’re still just shy of thirty.

 

The stiffness of the cot is grounding in its own way, giving him something else to focus on, the studio’s walls are his defence and haven. This was a place he had built for himself, completely untainted by memories of the past, and he wakes the next day feeling unnaturally refreshed though his joints do ache in protest and Jeonghan laughs at him without remorse, hard enough to spill the coffees he bought for them both.

 

Twelve hours later, Seongwoo finally resigns himself to going home; his building’s management had sent him a notification yesterday about the package he had ordered arriving, they would keep at the front desk for him for forty-eight hours and then afterwards it would just be left on his doorstep and he didn’t want to risk it being stolen or broken.

 

It’s an easy drive home, late into the night as it is, the hues of sunset long having been devoured by the pitch of midnight, the darkness broken up by incandescent street lamps flickers past his vision as his car cuts through the highway towards his home. Seongwoo almost wishes that the drive was longer, the barely noticeable hum of the engine and the vibrations cocooning him are a familiar, comforting thing, but he’s much too busy these days to drive around aimlessly for the sheer pleasure of it. Pulling into the garage, he nods at the security guard on duty before heading to pick up his package from the night staff, lugging the hefty box to the elevator with an aching back.

 

Seongwoo is fumbling for his keys, one arm straining to balance the package when he notices he’s not alone in the corridor. He looks up, passing pleasantry for his neighbour already forming on his lips as he moves to let them pass, only to be pulled up short.

 

He stares in disbelief for a moment at the man leaning against his door with their hands shoved into pockets of slacks just a tad too baggy to be fitting. Those broad shoulders hunched in defensively are jammed against the doorway about as uncomfortably as Seongwoo feels right now. He gulps, meeting the other man’s gaze evenly, feeling every inch of his fatigue all at once.

 

“Hyung,” that one syllable rumbles out of his visitor’s throat, familiar and foreign all at once, colouring the air between them with history and expectation Seongwoo wants no part in anymore.

 

Seongwoo bends to set the box at his feet, straightening with a sigh.

 

 

“Daniel.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At some point, SVT is just going to take over this fic completely, haha. Are we ready for the confrontation to come?


	13. XIII: Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter potentially suffers from half being written on my phone while I'm sleep deprived on a plane, apologies ahead of time.

Seongwoo’s apartment is eeriely silent.

 

There is no ticking of an old clock in the background, no bubbling of a kettle about to boil, no faint hum of electricity. Only the sound of his own breathing and the steady rhythm of his heart pulsing through him keeps Daniel grounded in this moment.

 

He hadn’t expected Seongwoo to quietly let him into his apartment without a single word of protest. In fact, beyond his initial solemn intonation of Daniel’s name, Seongwoo hadn’t spoken a single word to him since. He had gestured at the couch and then disappeared into his room to change, plodding back out in sweats and an old, oversized t-shirt and making a beeline for the kitchen, ignoring Daniel entirely. 

 

Seongwoo comes back with two cups of tea, steam rising slowly, the scent of jasmine wafting towards the ceiling. One cup he sets in front of Daniel without a word, the other mug he keeps clasped in his hands as he sinks into the couch adjacent to Daniel’s seat, taking small sips, attention completely rooted on nursing his drink.

 

Daniel fiddles with the ear on the mug that Seongwoo had placed in front of him, making no move to pick it up. His thoughts are still a mess of indignation, of anger, of confusion, now further thrown into disarray because he’s almost one hundred percent certain that the old t-shirt Seongwoo was wearing with its worn seams and fraying neckline hanging off thin shoulders once belonged to him. He must have made some sort of noise because Seongwoo lifts his eyes and then just  _ stares _ expectantly, offering his undivided attention but nothing else and suddenly Daniel wasn’t sure if he wanted it at all.

 

What was he doing here? 

 

He should be home with his son, should have gone to pick him up from Jisung hyung’s place once he disembarked, not stomp straight here past the threshold of Seongwoo’s apartment.

 

Why was he angry? Why was he so upset over a picture? Over comments of people who didn’t have any insight into this situation?

 

The quiet clink of porcelein against glass draws Daniel out of his chaotic reverie and he tunes into reality again to see Seongwoo’s mug left on the coffee table, still half-full but now lukewarm. Seongwoo glances at Daniel and then moves to stand, gathering his half-finished tea and reaching for Daniel’s still full mug when Daniel reaches out on instinct to grasp his wrist, putting a halt to his motion. 

 

Seongwoo pauses, directing a questioning look his way, body bent over the table awkwardly but making no move to yank his arm out of Daniel’s grasp. 

 

It’s unnerving and Daniel wishes Seongwoo would just  _ say something _ , anything at all. But the other man doesn’t, and when Daniel’s words prove to also have dried up, Seongwoo only twists his wrist free casually, picking up the mug as he intended to do before straightening, heading back towards the kitchen and dumping the contents of both down the drain. The sound of the running tap is all Daniel hears for a while as Seongwoo washes both mugs and finally he can stand it no more, shooting to his feet and striding into the kitchen, some odd pressure pressing down on his chest the longer he stares at the older man’s silhouette. 

 

_ Look at me! _ he wants to scream, even though he can’t bear to the weight of Seongwoo’s gaze upon him.

 

_ Say something! _ he wants to shout, even though he doesn’t know if he can stomach the words he’ll get in return.

 

Seongwoo sets both mugs on the drying rack and then wipes down his hands, putting the towel back down and then sighs, the first sound he made since he let Daniel in. He turns, eyes flat and face  nothing but a mask, a mockery of his handsome features, and Daniel shudders at the sight of it. 

 

“Well?” Seongwoo finally breaks his silence, “What did you want to say so urgently it couldn’t have waited? It’s past midnight now, Woojin must have been waiting for his father…”

 

The reminder is an unwelcome one and Daniel winces before scowling heavily, "My son isn't any of your business."

 

Seongwoo doesn't react and he keeps talking, hoping for a reaction, "What right did you have to spread pictures of my child all over social media? Using him as a promotion tactic? I expected better of you."

 

Seongwoo doesn't recoil as if struck despite the intention of those words; he stares back steadily, calm of the ocean before a storm, waves building below ready to devastate the unsuspecting traveler. The part of Daniel that knows the warning signs is telling him to stop, but he doesn't, opening his mouth again, "And I didn't hear any of it from you, did I? I had to hear from everyone else. So responsible, hyung, I guess it's all for show isn't it? First you try to force your way in and then when it's no fun anymore you run."

 

"If I remember correctly," Seongwoo starts, voice a soft drawl, "you were the one who told me not to bother you or Woojin, so I'm not running. You're right; your son is none of my business if you don't want him to be. I apologize for overstepping my bounds before, I apologize for getting him involved in Doyeon's media play though I asked her to remove it once I realized she had posted it publically. Is that all that you wanted?"

 

Daniel stares back, turning Seongwoo's words over in his head. He hates that they makes sense, hates that if he protests and asks for Seongwoo to take responsibility for making him feel this conflicted he'll be the irrational one.

 

"I want my shirt back," he blurts out before he realizes he's said it, hand reaching out and now even Seongwoo startles, looking down at himself in question.

 

It takes a moment for it to click, to realize the origin of that ratty old thing, and Seongwoo snorts. "You are such a child," he mutters, rolling his eyes.

 

"Am not," the mullish response is automatic.

 

"Childish," Seongwoo repeats, moving to push past Daniel only for Daniel to block his path, "What're you- What now?"

 

"My shirt," Daniel repeats stubbornly, close enough now to read the fatigue in Seongwoo's face and smell the faded notes of his cologne.

 

"You want," he huffs in frustration before yanking the shirt off and shoving it at Daniel, "Take it then, now move, leave."

 

Daniel clutches the shirt and Seongwoo's hand, unwilling to let go and he can see the mounting frustration in Seongwoo's formerly calm countenance. "Move," the older man repeats, trying to push past Daniel again but losing against his broader, sturdier frame, "I said move! What do you even want?

 

"You have your apologies, you have my promise to leave you both alone, you have your stupid shirt. What more do you want from me, Kang Daniel?!"

 

"I......."

 

Daniel doesn't answer, has no words that could express his thoughts, eyes coming back again and again to Seongwoo's bare, heaving chest.

 

Seongwoo sneers, "You don't know what you want, you never know what you want. And when you don't know you just act out like this; you were like this before and you're still like this now. How're you supposed to raise a child when you're still one yourself?"

 

"I'm doing my best with Woojin," he hisses, pressing Seongwoo back into the kitchen with every step, "I was doing just fine until you came along."

 

"I didn't do anything except offer to help you," Seongwoo plants his feet into the ground, refusing to give another inch no matter how much closer Daniel presses into his personal space, "You said no and I am trying to respect that. But who was it who tried to guilt me into taking care of Woojin after acting like every second you spent in my presence was unbearable?"

 

"Oh so now it's my fault? My fault for needing help when you're the one who picks and chooses what's convenient for you. Pretending to be there for me and then just, just turning around and abandoning me, abandoning us! Turning my child's life into a media circus!"

 

“Excuse me? And how did you think this might have turned out differently if you had gotten you way? When you lied to try and get me to look after your son after I told you I couldn’t do it. Did you think if you succeeded I would have been able to take time off, that I wouldn’t have had to take him into the studio with me? Are we just going to pretend the exact same thing wouldn’t have happened?”

 

“Stop acting like you’re so innocent in all of this! I told you to leave us alone, I didn’t want your help, didn’t want your anything. Why didn’t you leave? Why didn’t you walk away instead of making things hard for me?”

 

“I was in the wrong, I admit it, I've apologized. I know, I know I should have walked away. I know I shouldn’t have pushed, that I had no right to be here anymore. But what about you? Asking me to go and then calling out of the blue, lying on top of everything. What do you want Daniel, do you want me here or do you want me gone?”

 

“And if I said I want you gone? Are you just to to, to bend over and leave again? Walk straight out of my life, out of our lives like we don’t mean anything to you?”

 

“You either want me here or you don’t, Daniel! We’re not children anymore, I can’t do this push and pull, nor do I want to. I left you once thinking it was the best thing for you, thinking that what everyone expected out of me was to be the bigger man and accept your choice and I regretted it to death, do you hear me? I regretted it, I still do. So yeah that’s why I couldn’t seem to leave you alone when I saw you again but how I acted was selfish. Everyone has told me that and I know it too, so I’m here trying to respect your decision but don’t you dare try and make it out as if I don’t care about you. Don’t turn this around and act like I have something to prove to you, because I don’t owe you _anything_ , and certainly not in this way.”

 

At some point they ended up screaming in each other's faces; Daniel doesn't know when he's boxed Seongwoo in against the fridge but the older man in caged inside his arms. There's a fury that makes his eyes bright and cheeks rosy, and for a split second Daniel wants to kiss that infuriating look off his face. He must have leaned in subconsciously because Seongwoo's hands are pushing against his chest in an instant, warning look in his eyes, "Don't."

 

"Why not?" His voice comes out low and hoarse, a desperation and yearning that he didn't notice before beneath all that anger and uncertainty flaring up, coursing through his veins, until all he can feel is want, "Why not?"

 

Seongwoo's breath hitches as Daniel draws even closer, eyes drawn down to those familiar, full lips that haunt his living dreams at times. "Don't," he repeats, swallowing hard, "this isn't what you want."

 

"But I want you, I've always wanted you," Daniel is close enough now that his exhale dances teasingly across Seongwoo's Cupid's bow, lips brushing a feather's touch against the other's, and Seongwoo shudders before abruptly turning his head to the side, "So why not?"

 

"Because you have a child to think of now," he says, just as Daniel kisses the slender neck presented to him instead, and Daniel freezes at those words even as he presses his face against the crook of Seongwoo's neck in frustration.

 

"And if I have a child I can't have you anymore?" his voice is a low rumble, he can feel how Seongwoo's body reacts to the proximity of him, and he wraps his arms around bare skin stubbornly.

 

Seongwoo goes stiff momentarily before slumping forwards, letting Daniel bear his weight. He doesn't answer, just breathes in the other's presence quietly, the flight drained out of him as they both just feel the other's warmth for the first time in years.

 

Minutes tick by; Seongwoo makes no move to pull away and Daniel has no plans to let go. Instead they take a series of stumbling, shuffling steps and collapse unto the couch in a tangle of limbs. Neither speak for the moment, rearranging themselves into some semblance of comfort, seeking something physical, grounding. Seongwoo shivers from the cold and Daniel pulls him closer, wraps him up tighter in his arms.

 

"I got a promotion," he says finally into Seongwoo's ear, and the other hums.

 

"The trips?"

 

"Yeah," he sighs, "leaving Woojin alone like this, I don't like it."

 

"Mmmm..... He misses you. And you miss him."

 

"Yeah, I...yeah. I worry so I overreact. So, I'm sorry," Daniel swallows heavily, "For what I said before. I just. Wanted to leave him with someone I trust."

 

"You trust Jisung hyung," Seongwoo reminds him, tone lightly reprimanding, and Daniel can't help but laugh.

 

"Yeah, I do, of course I do."

 

"Then?"

 

Daniel doesn't know what to say and Seongwoo lets him think, fingers drumming on his bicep rhythmically as Daniel struggles to make sense of his own thoughts.

 

"I just. Wanted it to be you," he confesses hoarsely, "I thought I had let you go all those years ago. I thought that we were over, I mean, I made things the way they were....but then I saw you again and I...I didn't realize exactly how much I regretted letting you go. I wanted you back in my life, but...."

 

"But?"

 

Daniel laughs bitterly, "But look at me! What do I have to offer you? I can barely find enough time for my own kid these days and it's killing me! How could I...."

 

Seongwoo finally pulls back, sitting up properly, shedding the grip of Daniel's hands that fall away no matter how much he still wants to hang on. "How could you have time for me," he finishes the sentence for Daniel without flinching, a statement instead of a question.

 

"Yeah," Daniel agrees weakly, "How could I take time away from my son for someone else? Even if that someone is you."

 

The way Seongwoo smiles at him makes Daniel want to cry - it's the same smile as five years ago, the smile that says it's killing him inside but Seongwoo is going to put Daniel first.

 

"Hyung-"

 

The rest of his words shatter into dust with a single look. "You said it," Seongwoo's words are a bare whisper, "you don't have time. You're a father, Woojin is your priority; he is and always should be. It's not just you and I on the line anymore, is it?"

 

"No," the hand he stretched out without meaning to falls be into his lap, "it isn't."

 

"So put me out of your mind then," Seongwoo clasps his hands around Daniel's this time, "if you don't think you can take this risk, if you don't think you can be fair to your child, then there's nothing for us here. You said I made things hard for you before by being here, so this time.... This time I promise I won't make things hard for you. Just walk out the door and it'll be like you never saw me again, it'll go back to before. These past five years you've been living will right?

 

"Just keep living well," Seongwoo urges, tears neither of them want to acknowledge in his eyes, "that's all you need to do.

 

 

"This time let me be the one telling you to let us go."

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Those words echo in Daniel's head the entire time he rattles around in the bus to Jisung's apartment. He can still smell the scent of Seongwoo's skin, feel the lingering warmth of his skin, hear the tears in his voice that the older man tried so desperately to hide. He wonders if Seongwoo had collapsed into tears the moment the door closed behind him, wonders if he regrets this to the death too.

 

Forget me, he hears Seongwoo's urging even as he stands outside Jisung's door, finger poised above the doorbell. He digs out his phone and pulls up the contact.

 

 _It'll be like I was never there at all_.

 

He presses the doorbell and instantly there's a pitter patter of little feet, an excited cry of "Dada!"

 

The door unlocked and opens just as Daniel resolutely presses the delete button, bending to scoop his excited and over-tired son into his arms. "Hi baby," he buries his face into Woojin's hair to hide his tears from Jisung, to hide his tears from the world, "did you miss me?"

 

Woojin nods fervently, pressing noisy kisses to his father's face, "Woojin's miss Dada lotses!"

 

"Woojinie-ah, you know Daddy loves you most right?"

 

"Yes!" his son agrees brightly despite the late hour.

 

Just the two of them, Daniel stands in the dimly lit corridor with his entire world in his arms and grits his teeth, _just like he had never been there again at all._


	14. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -laughs- this got a bit too long to be just an epilogue but here we go anyways.

_"Arriving at..."_

_".....express departing for Busan..."_

_".......platform 3 in two minutes."_

 

 

Woojin stops where he is, jostled by passing bodies as he cranes his head around trying to orient himself. The slip of paper clutched tightly in his right hand gives him no sense of relief - he had missed his train and his father was never going to let him travel alone again.

 

It was supposed to be easy, their school trip ends at the terminal station and Woojin takes a train back into town and then a bus back home so he could show Dad he was all grown up now. His teacher and classmates had long since dispersed by the time Woojin came back from the washroom, Mrs. Lee he had driven away himself with repeated reassurances that he already had his ticket and had made arrangements with his father to be picked up. He had his cell phone, he had told her, and his bus pass if all else failed, and he would call his father to check in every hour.

 

Except he has gone to the wrong platform and missed his train. His cellphone was dead and he regretted playing games on it the whole way back on the bus with his friends. His bus pass, Woojin had been startled to find didn't have nearly enough money to get him back home, and his allowance.....well he had spent every penny of it just last weekend on a limited edition action figure for Seonho hyung's birthday.

 

Woojin's bottom lip quivers as he stares down at the change scrounged up from his pocket, just a little short of enough for a phone call. He's lost in the sea of busy people, each rushing to make their own connections, to get to the next destination as quickly as possible.

 

The ten year old looks around wildly for a help desk, an information center, something, anywhere that he could ask for help.

 

A warm hand lands lightly on his shoulder and Woojin whirls around, eyes wide. There's a man behind him, tall and slender, dark eyes concerned, "Hey kid, are you okay? Are you lost? Did you get separated from your parents?"

 

The stranger's voice is soft and calming, a comfort in the hustle and bustle of the station with its blaring announcements. The tone is soothing and for a second Woojin could have sworn he knows this voice, knows this man, but he doesn't remember that face at all and he knows all his uncles, even Uncle Aron whom he has only meet twice.

 

"I missed my train," Woojin blurts out, trying not to cry, "I missed my train home and I don't have enough money for another ticket."

 

His stomach growls embarrassingly loudly before the man can respond, loud enough to be audible above the noise of the station, and Woojin flushes bright red. The man smiles, laughing lightly before guiding Woojin out of the crowded platform and towards a concession stand. He grabs two melon breads and a cartoon of milk, pays for it, and then hands the bag to Woojin who is still standing there, uncertain of what to do.

 

He knows he's not supposed to accept things from strangers but this man was trying to help and Woojin was hungry. In the end he accepts the plastic bag with a bow and red cheeks, sitting on a bench and unwrapping one of the buns, taking a big bite out of it and chewing with relish.

 

"Do you need money for a new ticket home?" the man asks, sitting down on the bench a little ways away from Woojin, pulling out his wallet again.

 

Woojin shakes his head wildly at the sight of slender fingers pulling out a stack of bills, "Ahjusshi you already bought me food! I can't...can you......could you lend me your phone so I can call my dad?"

 

He doesn't want to have to call his dad, doesn't want to pull him away from potentially important meetings when he had been trying to make things easier for his hardworking father, but what choice does he have? He can't accept money from this good Samaritan just to hide his mistakes from his dad; that would be wrong and his father taught him better than that.

 

The man acquiescences to his request with an easy smile, pulling out a sleek new phone from his pocket and handing it over without a care. It's the newest model, Woojin notes, the one with loads of commercials playing all the time, and Woojin wonders if the man is rich and that's why he didn't mind giving a random kid money. He hits himself mentally for thinking it, the man was helping him and he was thinking unkind thoughts.

 

He punched in his dad's number hastily and brings it to his ear, giving a seated bow in thanks to his saviour, heart pounding as he waits for it to connect.

 

The dial tone rings three times before the line connects with a click and he can hear his father's voice filter through the speakers, "Hello? Kang Daniel speaking."

 

"Dad?" he calls, palms sweating a little as he grips the phone a little tighter.

 

"Woojinie?" his father sounds startled for a moment, "Why haven't you been picking up your phone? I called you three times already! Do you know how worried I was?"

 

"I-I'm sorry," Woojin gulps, "My phone died and I don't have my charger. Dad....I'm sorry, I missed my train."

 

There's a burst of static as his father sighs heavily and Woojin winces. "Are you okay? Stay there, okay? I'm already on my way to the station."

 

"I'm fine," Woojin glanced at the man beside him, "an ahjusshi saw that I was lost and he lent me his phone to call you. He bought me melon bread."

 

"Did you say thank you?" his father lectures almost immediately, "And what did I say about taking things from strangers?"

 

"I did! And it wasn't like a bad man, ahjusshi was helping me!" Woojin defends, flushing as he remembers the man can still hear him.

 

"Alright, we're going to talk when you're home. Tell the ahjusshi thank you for me, okay? I'll be at the station in ten minutes, where inside the station are you?"

 

"I'm beside the concession stand near the....." he trails off and cranes his head to look around and the man helpfully points out a sign to their left, "A5 exit."

 

"Alright, stay put and I'll see you soon. And Woojin?"

 

"Yeah?" he croaked.

 

"I'm glad you're safe, I love you."

 

"I love you too, dad. I'm sorry."

 

"It's okay, I'll see you soon."

 

They exchange farewells and Woojin hangs up, red icon signalling the call ended flashes and then the screen fades back into the contacts. Woojin blinks and then blinks again, the screen doesn't change - call duration for 3:47 minutes with KD. Handing the phone back to the man, Woojin squints again at the man's oddly familiar face.

 

"Thank you ahjusshi....."

 

"No problem, your dad is coming to pick you up?" the man slides the phone back into his pocket without looking at it.

 

"Yeah..." Woojin wracks his brain for faces and names but comes up empty, nothing but a vague feeling of familiarity.

 

"Everything okay?" the man prompts after Woojin had unknowingly sat staring at the man's face for minutes, "You look like you want to say something."

 

"Oh! Um, my dad says thank you," Woojin hesitates still.

 

"Not a problem," the man smiles easily.

 

"........ ahjusshi," Woojin can't help but hedge, that smile sending another flash of colour through his mind, purple, the softness of a childhood plush toy, "Do you know my dad?"

 

The man blinks, "Your dad? Why do you ask?"

 

"I... His number was saved on your phone."

 

"I..." the man's face twists into several interesting expressions before he turns to look at Woojin more closely, like _really_ look at him, “…….What's your father's name?"

 

"Kang Daniel," Woojin says quickly, looking for signs of recognition and getting a wry smile and flash of something in the older man’s eyes, "do you know him?"

 

"......a long time ago, yes," the man admits after a pause, lips pulled a little too strangely to be called a smile anymore but that expression passes quickly.

 

“Then…” Woojin hesitates for a moment before bulldozing onwards, driven by endless curiousity and the need to make sense of these flashes of familiarity, the need to _know_ , “did you know me?”

 

 _Do I know you?_ Is what he really wants to ask.

 

_Did you ever hold me when I was a child? Did you buy me gifts and dote on me like all my other uncles?_

 

_Why didn’t I grow up knowing you?_

 

“I did,” the man laughs, body held a little more easily now, reaching out a hand as if to ruffle Woojin’s hair but stopping short, pulling the limb back with an awkward shrug, “You must have been too young to remember, but we did meet a couple of times.”

 

“How old was I?” Woojin asks, eyes wide now the theory had been confirmed, scooting closer - dad said be careful of strangers but ahjusshi knew dad and also met him when he was younger so he didn’t count.

 

“The first time was when you had just turned three,” the man recounts, “I ran into you and your dad at the restaurant where he was holding your birthday party.”

 

“Oh,” Woojin frowns; he guesses three would be too young to remember really, “Only when I was three?”

 

“I went overseas for a few years because of work afterwards, and we fell out of contact,” the ahjusshi explains, seemingly amused that Woojin was so curious and he huffs, he just wanted to _know!_

 

“Seonho hyung and I go to different schools now and _we’re_ still friends,” Woojin grumbles under his breath, kicking his feet back and forth as he stuffs the rest of the melon bread into his mouth.

 

“That’s good,” this time ahjusshi does pat him on the head lightly before he stands up and then brushes off the back of his pants lightly, “Alright, your dad should be here soon and I should get going before _I_ miss _my_ train. Are you going to be okay waiting for him by yourself?”

 

“I’m okay but….you’re not going to stay and say hi?” Woojin pouts, wanting the man to stay but not quite knowing why - he was fun and nice and easy to talk to, and big boy or not, Woojin didn’t really want to wait for his dad alone and maybe dad wouldn’t yell at him in front of his friend.

 

The man’s lips twitch up into another little smile and shakes his head, “Maybe another time.”

 

“Oh,” Woojin looked down and scuffed the tips of his shoes against the pavement, “Okay. Bye Ahjusshi, thank you for helping me!”

 

“Goodbye Woojinie,” the man calls, smiling softly though he looks a bit surprised at himself for calling the younger boy so familiarly, hiding it with a little wave.

 

Woojin waves back and watches him walk away, the tall figure making it only a few paces away before a familiar voice calls out, “Woojin-ah!”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Daniel sprints into the station the moment he parks his car, looking around frantically for his son. No matter how much Woojin insisted that he was okay, he was worried. Had been beside himself with worry ever since Woojin missed three of his calls only to call back on some stranger’s phone. His baby boy was talking to strangers and this wasn’t the first time Daniel had had to scold him about the dangers of talking to and taking things from strangers. There were some strange and messed up people in the world and some of them preyed on children - naturally, Daniel wanted them nowhere near his child.

 

But Woojin, bright and friendly Woojin, his son who had the sweetest disposition and a penchant for trusting everyone and anyone never could quite seem to understand that some people were dangerous. He just prayed that the good Samaritan really _was_ a kind-hearted passer-by and not some kidnapper. (He might have also broken a couple of speed limits and traffic laws, but really, it was justified.)

 

He spots Woojin standing near a bench alone by the stand near the A5 exit just like he’d said and breathes a sigh of relief as he shoulders through the crowd, taking advantage of his taller and broader frame shamelessly, “Woojin-ah!”

 

“Dad!” Woojin spins around in time to be caught up in a tight hug that he returns, spindly arms barely managing to wrap around Daniel’s broad chest.

 

“You scared me so much,” Daniel exhales, squeezing his son tight and breathing in the scent of his child as if to reassure himself that his son really was there, safe and sound, “No more travelling by yourself until you’re at _least_ sixteen, you hear me?”

 

“Daaaad,” Woojin whines, “That’s too long! Seonho hyung goes out by himself _all_ the time and he’s only a year older than me!”

 

“What’s that? You want to stay home until you’re twenty five?” he can’t resist teasing and Woojin falls for it immediately.

 

“Daaaad! I’m fine! I met your friend and he helped me, and now you’re here and I’m okay, see? I didn’t get lost or anything, I’m fine!”

 

Daniel pulls back for a moment and then frowns, “Friend?”

 

“Yeah,” Woojin casts his eyes around and then points at the silhouette of a man who was lining up at the platform a few meters away from them, “that ahjusshi, I saw your number saved on his phone and asked him if he knew you and he said he did.”

 

Daniel straightens and then goes stock still, shock clearly written across his features and Woojinblinks, gulping, “Dad?”

 

_It couldn’t be._

 

But that silhouette, the soft black hair feathering down to a pale, elegant neck bent over a phone. Tall, long limbed, slender and slighter than Daniel was - every cell in him screams that he knows that man.

 

Daniel staggers forward as if he can’t quite believe his eyes before stopping just a ways away, wanting to run closer, wanting to reach out but not daring to. He knows Woojin is watching him curiously now, knows that his son is confused, but he doesn’t have the presence of mind to stop and explain. He settles for calling out hesitantly, “Seongwoo hyung?”

 

The sound barely makes it past his lips, warped by his suddenly parched throat, by the heavy and clumsy tongue in his mouth, weighed down still by every doubt and worry he thought he had left behind all those years ago.

 

The figure looks up from his phone and then turns slowly, face calm and composed in stark contrast to how Daniel feels right now. Their eyes meet and Daniel forgets how to breathe, can feel nothing except the rhythm of his heart thudding wildly in his chest sending blood rushing and pounding loudly through his ears.

 

Seongwoo smiles, a slow, soft and tiny little thing.

 

 

“Hello Daniel.”

 

 

And suddenly, just like magic, Daniel can breathe again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! Thank you to everyone who stuck around until the end and I hope you enjoyed this story <3


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